After 17 years, South Carolina poet laureate resigns

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina poet laureate Marjory Wentworth has resigned after 17 years on the job. Wentworth, a professor of English at the College of Charleston who has published several books of poetry, tweeted Friday that she had stepped down.

She was first appointed to the honorary position by Gov. Mark Sanford in 2003 after reading a poem at his inauguration.

Wentworth told news outlets she thought it was time for someone else to take on the job.

Wentworth was South Carolina’s sixth poet laureate after the state legislature created the position in 1934. In the role, she has organized festivals and written poems for special occasions.