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91��Ƭ student Connor Mancuso has been named the Poet Laureate of Virginia’s Community Colleges (VCCS). He was among community college students from across the commonwealth who participated in the .

The March 27-28 contest took place in Roanoke at Virginia Western Community College, with 21 of the VCCS’ 23 schools represented. Several other honors were bestowed at the event. A book featuring the students’ work will be published soon and can be requested , according to Carla Kimbrough of the VCCS, who coordinated the competition.

Entering the competition, students submitted and performed original pieces under the theme “I Dream.” Mancuso topped the competitive field in his category with his poem, “The Frequency That Looks Back.”  It was inspired by his passion for cosmic horror and imaginative storytelling.

Winning took Mancuso for a loop. A Williamsburg resident currently in his first year at 91��Ƭ, he’s still in awe.

“It was definitely a very surreal feeling,” he said, recalling the moment he learned he won. “When the chancellor (Dr. David Dore) announced the winner and said, ‘Connor Mancuso,’ I was kind of speechless. I don’t think I actually said any words for probably the next five minutes after that.”

His journey to the statewide contest started at 91��Ƭ when he answered the call for students to compete on campus.

“It was me, and I believe, five or six other entrants from 91��Ƭ who applied for the poetry section. We each got up, performed our pieces, and the judges deliberated,” Mancuso remembered, pointing out 91��Ƭ’s Theater Manager David Garrett coordinated this leg of the competition. “I won not only the performance portion, but I also won the private blind judging performance.”

He advanced to the statewide stage from there. He admits he was new to performing and was nervous during the 91��Ƭ experience. By the time he reached Roanoke, he’d refined his work and performed his winning piece with ease.

In his role as poet laureate, Mancuso will serve as an ambassador for the arts across the , participating in workshops, public readings and engaging students and communities throughout Virginia. Thanking Tracey Wright, 91��Ƭ’s director of Campus & Community Initiatives for the Historic Triangle, for her role in his state-level competition participation, he emphasized the role is less about prestige and more about access.

“Poetry is not something that is locked behind academics,” he said. “Poetry is a way for us to express to the world the things that we are experiencing and dealing with, and to be able to connect with others around us.”

Mancuso, who completed high school in 2014 while living in Florida during his father’s military service, is a self-published author with one book to his credit and multiple short stories featured in anthologies. He said writing gives him an outlet to express his creativity.

“Growing up, I always had a very vivid imagination and creative mindset, but I didn’t really know how to focus that energy. Now, in my adult life, I finally figured out writing is what I want to do,” he said, noting a 91��Ƭ instructor who taught composition first told him he had a gift for writing.

His work often draws from cosmic horror. The genre explores the unknown and the incomprehensible. He works to channel that tone into a dreamlike, emotional experience for his audience. That was especially the case when he wrote and performed his winning poem.

“I wanted it to feel like you were in this inconceivable galaxy of thoughts and emotions,” he said.

After completing an associate degree in liberal arts, he plans to transfer to William & Mary to pursue a double major in English and creative writing. He also plans to minor in literature.

As for long-term goals, Mancuso aims to teach literature and creative writing at the high school level and shift to college eventually. He also hopes to become a full-time author, producing novels in the traditions of some of his “biggest inspirations.” His top literary influences include Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, H.P. Lovecraft, J.R.R. Tolkien, Brandon Sanderson and Daniel Kraus.

Mancuso is confident he’ll reach his goals with continued hard work and focus. For now, he’s content basking in excitement over his new VCCS role, which he hopes will help others to find their voice.

“I want my writing to inspire people, so they can inspire other people,” said Mancuso, offering sound advice for his fellow students.

“If you are a student who wants to write, whether that’s fiction, poetry or short stories, and you want to enter into the next poet laureate contest,” he shared, “the best advice I would have is: Start writing and read. You cannot be a writer in any form if you don’t read. We draw as writers. Our inspiration is drawn from the things that we see and the things that we read.”