“S” is for Sinclair, Bennie Lee (1939-2000)

“S” is for Sinclair, Bennie Lee (1939-2000). Novelist, poet. A native of Greenville, Sinclair was a graduate of Furman University. In 1986 she was appointed the fifth poet laureate of South Carolina. Sinclair taught writing at Furman and gave workshops at the University of Notre Dame, Western Carolina University, and Brevard College. Her commitment to teaching poetry included a twenty-eight-year connection with the South Carolina Arts Commission through its Artists-in-the-Schools program. Sinclair promoted public appreciation for poetry via educational radio programs during National Poetry Month. She also taught poetry at the Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities. In addition to four books of poetry, she published short stories as well as a novel, The Lynching. Bennie Lee Sinclair composed poems in her mind before writing them down and amazed everyone with her capacity for memorization.