S.C. Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth to visit Hartsville

Burry Bookstore will host S.C. Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth and Author Batt Humphreys from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday during the Annual Christmas Open House. Wentworth will be signing copies of her children’s book “Shackles,” and Humphreys will be signing copies of his new book “Dead Weight.”

Wentworth, born in Lynn, Mass., was educated at Mt. Holyoke College and Oxford University. She received her M. A. in English literature and creative writing from New York University. Her poems have appeared in numerous books and magazines, and she has twice been nominated for The Pushcart Prize. Wentworth teaches poetry in an arts and healing program for cancer patients and their families at Roper Hospital in Charleston. She also writes a poetry column for The Charleston Post and Courier and works as a publicist. In 2003 she was appointed Poet Laureate of South Carolina.

“Shackles” is based on a true story. It describes what happens when a group of little boys searching for buried treasure in their backyard on Sullivan’s Island dig up a bit of history. They find a set of shackles used centuries ago on slaves who were held on the island.

Humphreys, a Georgia native, began his career in television news in Charleston. He spent 15 years at CBS News in New York, most as a senior producer, before leaving to return to his beloved South. He covered the events of Sept. 11, 2001, several wars, elections, and, as a reporter, hurricanes, executions and more murders than he cares to remember. He now lives on a farm outside of Charleston with his wife and animals.

“Dead Weight,” Humphreys’ first novel, is also based on a true story on events that took place in Charleston 100 years ago. The book tells the story of the murder of a Jewish merchant, the black man accused of the murder and the white populace primed for a hanging. Thrown into the mix is a reporter from New York who is assigned to cover the hanging.