Inspired By Nature - And Cadets

VMI’s Mattie Smith Appointed Poet Laureate By Governor

Editor’s note: The following story, except for the first line, was written by Marianne Hause, media relations specialist for VMI.

In a first for the Rockbridge area, a local resident has been named a Virginia poet laureate.

Mattie Quesenberry Smith, Ph.D., instructor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies at Virginia Military Institute, was recently appointed the commonwealth’s new poet laureate by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

A lifelong resident of Virginia, Smith grew up in Appalachia in humble surroundings. Though she went without many modern comforts, her childhood provided a rich tapestry of experiences from which to draw for her creative writing. Her father was a carpenter and her mother cared for the family at home. The family spent many hours outdoors fishing, hunting and exploring the wilderness. Smith even acknowledged having relatives who were moonshiners.

The first of her family to go to college, she received her undergraduate degree from Hollins University where she double majored in biology and English literature. She continued her studies at Hollins, earning a master’s degree in English literature and creative writing.

“My intent was to write poetry because I was really interested in science and poetry. Poets represent different aspects of our worldview, which comes primarily from scientific awareness,” said Smith.

Smith often gets inspiration for poetry from nature. She is particularly drawn to metamorphosis, a change of physical form like that of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, and fractals, geometric shapes with complex, repeating patterns, like seashells. She also collects things that stir her, like rocks.

“And then there are things that haunt me that I write around,” she said. “Once when my husband was outside raking leaves, he uncovered remnants of toys our children had played with when they were young. He brought them in and placed them on a windowsill. Seeing those little leavings was very emotional to me, and I wrote a collection of poems about them called, ‘Leaving October.’” VMI cadets also inspire Smith. In her writing and rhetoric class, a cadet once challenged her to spontaneously write a haiku, a short, unrhymed Japanese poem of three lines with a five-seven-five syllable pattern. She responded quickly with “The Water Washes.”

The water washes stones. Smooth as time’s sand-filled hour, everything glass sighs.

Smith keeps a tall stack of notes on her desk. Each note holds a starting line of a poem. “If I don’t write it down, there is no poem. As long as it’s over there in the stack, I know a poem is in there.”

Smith sees her appointment as poet laureate as an honor and a call to service.

“I’d like to teach people in the community who are struggling with secure residency or food security how to unveil their own voices, and realize their experiences are important enough to write about,” she said. “I also want to have readings to benefit the local food pantry.” She hopes to have a series of workshops for cadets on post.

Col. Emily Miller, head of Smith’s department, is thrilled with this appointment. “Mattie will bring the same dedication to that position that she shows every day in teaching our cadets. With her considerable talents, she will be an excellent proponent of the power and beauty of poetry,” stated Miller.

Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins ’85, superintendent, stated that Smith’s recognition is well deserved and a testament to the quality of faculty cadets interact with every day.

“Our cadets have benefited from Dr. Smith’s creativity and expertise for many years,” he said. “Now, the VMI community is proud to share her talents and passion for teaching with the rest of the commonwealth as poet laureate.”

Brig. Gen. Robert Moreschi, dean of the faculty and deputy superintendent for academics, agrees. “Being named the commonwealth’s poet laureate is a significant honor that recognizes Mattie’s poetic talent. She is dedicated to her craft and to cadets, and all of us who know her are absolutely delighted at her appointment.”

Smith’s poetry has appeared in many periodicals including Poetry X Hunger, The Timberline Review, and Phi Kappa Phi Forum Magazine. She has written screenplays with her husband and VMI peer, Douglas N. Smith. Their documentary film, “Between Two Fires,” garnered a CINE Eagle and Best Documentary of the Show in the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded the film an Oscar for excellence in graduate student filmmaking.

Smith is currently working on a book of poetry titled, “Optics and Doubt.” The title comes from Christian visual images and spiritual experiences likened to light.

“Spiritual words like halos and auras are optical phenomena. That is troubling to me, but delightful at the same time. That’s what that collection is about,” she shared.

Three days after she took her oath as poet laureate in Richmond, Smith successfully defended her dissertation, and earned her doctorate from Virginia Tech.

Since 1988 the governor has appointed the honorary position of poet laureate of Virginia. Smith will serve a two-year term.