South Carolina Poets Laureate
Reading and Dinner
SATURDAY, JUNE 28 | 7:00-9:00PM
Marjory Wentworth
POET LAUREATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA (2003-2020)
Marjory Wentworth is the New York Times bestselling co-author of Out of Wonder, Poems Celebrating Poets, and the author of the prizewinning children’s story Shackles. She is also the co-writer of We Are Charleston, Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel, and Taking a Stand, The Evolution of Human Rights. She has published five collections of poetry. In 2021 she received The SC Governor’s Award for the Arts. Her archives are held at the James B. Duke Library at Furman University. She served as the poet laureate of South Carolina from 2003-2020. For further information see marjorytwentworth.com.
Glenis Redmond
POET LAUREATE OF GREENVILLE
Glenis Redmond is Greenville, South Carolina’s Inaugural Poet Laureate and a 2025 recipient of the Order of the Palmetto, the state’s highest civilian honor, awarded by the Governor in recognition of a lifetime of extraordinary achievement, service, and contributions on a national or statewide scale. She received the Highlights Foundation Inspire Scholarship in 2025 and is the Baldwin Fellow (2024–2025), as well as a 2023 Poet Laureate Fellow selected by the Academy of American Poets. Glenis was also named a Citizen Diplomat by the Jonathan Green Maritime Cultural Center. A Cave Canem Alumni, Glenis is a veteran of the U.S. Army Reserves. She earned her B.A. from Erskine College and her M.F.A. in poetry from Warren Wilson College. She is the author of seven books.
Jo Angela Edwins
POET LAUREATE OF THE PEE DEE
Jo Angela Edwins has published poems in over 100 journals and anthologies including Calyx, descant, The Hollins Critic, and Mom Egg Review. She is the author of the collection A Dangerous Heaven (Gnashing Teeth, 2023) and the chapbooks Play (Finishing Line, 2016) and Bitten (dancing girl, forthcoming 2025). She has received awards from Winning Writers, Poetry Super Highway, the Jasper Project, and the SC Academy of Authors. A professor of English at Francis Marion University, she serves as the first poet laureate of the Pee Dee region of South Carolina.
Marlanda Dekine
POET LAUREATE OF GEORGETOWN COUNTY LIBRARIES
Marlanda Dekine is an author, consultant, and poet from Plantersville, South Carolina. She serves as the Poet Laureate for Georgetown County Libraries. Dekine has received awards and fellowships from the South Carolina Arts Commission, SC Humanities, Castle of our Skins, Tin House, and elsewhere. She founded {unnamed} LLC utilizing poetry to facilitate transformative spaces. She holds a BA in Psychology from Furman University, an MSW in Social Work from the University of South Carolina, and an MFA in Poetry from Converse University. Learn more about Marlanda at www.marlandadekine.com.
A$iahMae
POET LAUREATE OF CHARLESTON
AsiahMae, stylized A$iahMae, (they/she) is a Black, non-binary Southern poet, and cultural worker with roots in Georgia, South and North Carolina. A trans-disciplinary artist, their background spans across film, curation, production, performance and language arts. Their work is a grounded attempt at documenting and preserving the Black South through the lens of community, domesticity, and devotion to land and sea. A$iahMae is a Watering Hole Fellow and has been featured in The Gibbes Museum of Art, Spoleto Festival USA, The Festival of Words: LA, The Charleston Literary Festival, and most recently in This is The Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets, curated by Kwame Alexander. They are currently serving as the Second Poet Laureate of Charleston, SC.
Jennifer Bartell Boykin
POET LAUREATE OF COLUMBIA
Jennifer Bartell Boykin is the Poet Laureate of the City of Columbia. She received an MFA and MLIS from the University of South Carolina. Her debut book of poetry is Traveling Mercy (Finishing Line Press, 2023) and features the Bluefield community, which is in Johnsonville, SC. Her second book Only Believe (The Word Works, 2024) won the 2023 Hilary Tham Capital Collection Prize. An alumna of Agnes Scott College, Jennifer is an Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate Fellow and has additional fellowships from Callaloo and The Watering Hole. She is a librarian at Muller Road Middle School in Blythewood, SC. She looks forward to seeing everyone June 27th-28th for the Soda City Poetry Festival.
Ed Madden
INAUGURAL POET LAUREATE OF COLUMBIA (2015-2022)
Ed Madden is a professor of English at the University of South Carolina. He served as the inaugural poet laureate of Columbia, South Carolina, 2015-2022. He is the author of six books of poetry, most recently A pooka in Arkansas (Word Works, 2023), selected for the Hilary Tham Capital Collection. He is the recipient of an artist’s residency from the Instituto Sacatar in Brazil, a Breakthrough Leadership in Research Award from the University of South Carolina, and a South Carolina Governor’s Award for the Arts.
Carlo L'Chelle Dawson
POET LAUREATE OF ROCK HILL
Carlo L'Chelle Dawson is an award-winning master storyteller, historic dramatic reenactor, teaching artist, songstress, and nonprofit director. She has recently been named the Rock Hill Poet Laureate. She is the author of four books and has been featured on the BBC and SC-ETV. Carlo shares stories that delight, inspire, and enlighten. Her “why” is providing a voice to the “voiceless”, which inspired her one-woman show, “The Missing Voice” that gives voice to underrepresented populations. Carlo leads workshops for all ages at museums, libraries, conferences, and more. Carlo is driven to “motivate, uplift, and inspire” individuals to maximize their full potential.