Charleen Swansea

Biography

Charleen Swansea (1932–2018) was an American poet, teacher, and publisher from North Carolina, and a recurring subject across the films of Ross McElwee, appearing in Charleen (1978), Sherman's March (1986), Time Indefinite, Six O'Clock News, and Remake (2025). A protégée of Ezra Pound, who tutored her in translating Latin, French, and Chinese poetry while she worked with him at St. Elizabeths Hospital, she went on to create the influential "Poets in the Schools" program for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, later adopted as a national model. She founded the literary magazine and press Red Clay Reader/Red Clay Publishers and authored several books, including Mindworks and Word Magic. She received the Fortner Writers Award and an honorary Ph.D. from St. Andrews Presbyterian College.