Poets Laureate

Mattie Queensberry Smith

2024-2026

Mattie Quesenberry Smith was born in Radford, Virginia, on June 4, 1963, and grew up in Montgomery County, Virginia. She earned a BA in biology and English literature and an MA in English literature and creative writing from Hollins University, and a PhD in curriculum and instruction from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2024.

The author of the chapbook Mother Chaos: Under Electric Light (Finishing Line Press, 2008), Quesenberry Smith has published essays, poems, and creative nonfiction in various anthologies, journals, magazines, and online platforms, including The Laureate Project, New Verse Review, Intersections—Poetry with Mathematics, and Hunger Poems: Poetry X Hunger.

Quesenberry Smith has also served as a volunteer in local public schools, a facilitator for creative writing workshops, and an organizer for public readings. Currently, she teaches first-year writing and rhetoric at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) where she was selected for the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s All-Southern Conference Faculty and Staff Team for the 2024–25 academic year, in recognition of her service to VMI and her contributions to campus life and the local community. In November 2024, Smith was appointed as Virginia’s poet laureate through 2026. In 2025, she received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship. She lives at the foot of Little House Mountain near Lexington, Virginia, with her family.

Doran Glass III

2025 Youth Poet Laureate

Doran Glass III is a college freshman at Hampden-Sydney College, Maury High School Class of 2024 and lifelong community leader From a young age, he immersed himself in civic engagement—organizing against harmful legislation, advocating for community resources, and mentoring youth through poetry and public service. As a peer leader with Teens With a Purpose, Doran facilitated workshops in public schools, encouraging self-expression through spoken word. Now serving in his college’s Office of Culture and Inclusion, Doran leads equity trainings, mentors local students, and continues building platforms that amplify marginalized voices. He mentors high school and an elementary students in the Prince Edward County Public School system. As the Social Chair for Hampden-Sydney College Minority Student Union, he organizes events that promote inclusion and visibility. His poetry serves as both a call to action and a bridge to healing. Doran Glass Iii was also named Norfolk Youth Poet Laureate.