Poet Laureate of Virginia

Having recently defended her dissertation for a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from VPI & SU (Winter, 2024), Smith holds an M.A. in Creative Writing from Hollins University and a B.A. in Biology and English Literature and Creative Writing. She teaches first-year writing and rhetoric at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) where she integrates STEM topics into her writing and rhetoric courses and researches the impacts of writing in integrative technology and engineering design-based teaching and learning. She also writes screenplays, articles, reviews, poems, and short stories; organizes communities for writers across educational and professional levels; and possesses a creative, energetic vision for academic research, community service, and creative writing held in balance. Smith has been selected as the Poet Laureate of Virginia and will serve the Commonwealth through June 30, 2026.