Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom The British Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Prime Minister. The role does not entail any specific duties, but there is an expectation that the holder will write verse for significant national occasions. The origins of the laureateship date back to 1616 when a pension was provided to Ben Jonson, but the first official holder of the position was John Dryden, appointed in 1668 by Charles II. On the death of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who held the post between November 1850
South Carolina Poet Laureate South Carolina Poet Laureate The South Carolina Poet Laureate is the poet laureate for the US state of South Carolina. The position is currently held by Marjory Heath Wentworth. No term of office is set by law. Laureates are appointed by the Governor of South Carolina. The position was created by a joint resolution of the South Carolina General Assembly in 1934. The term of office is not officially set, but generally it has been a life-time appointment. Governor Richard Wilson Riley changed this some during his term of office, limiting the laureateship to one-year terms. The position was not