Alicia Cook

For the singer born by the name Alicia Cook, see Alicia Keys. For other people with similar names, see Alice Cook (disambiguation).

Alicia Cook is a poet, essayist and activist. She is best known for writing bestselling book Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately and for spreading awareness on the impact of drug addiction.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Education

Cook has a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Georgian Court University and an MBA from Saint Peter's University.^[7][8]

She was named Distinguished Alumni of the Year in 2020^[9] by Georgian Court and was their commencement speaker in 2021.^[10]

Career

Cook's writing often explores grief, addiction, healing, and mental health. Her poetry is characterized by "direct, unflinching honesty and rich compassion."^[3][11]

In 2016, Cook released poetry collection Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately.^[12] The book tackled life, death, love, trauma and growth. It is split into two parts, part A contains original poems while part B were remixes of poems found in part A. The book was a finalist for Goodreads Choice Awards.^[13][14][15]

Cook is also known for intersecting music and poetry.^[3]

She was the main subject in A Family Disease, an episode of the documentary series Here's the Story on PBS.^[16] The episode focused on her advocacy and the ten year anniversary of the death of her cousin.^[17]

Cook released The Other Side of Addiction in 2017. It is a collection of essays about drug addiction. The book informs and comforts people who are affected by addiction, especially the families of who witnessed heir loved ones suffer in addiction.^[18]

In 2018, her second poetry book I Hope My Voice Doesn't Skip was released by Andrews McMeel Publishing.^[19]

In 2019, Cook went viral with the poem Sorry I haven't texted you back.^[20] She released a poetry book of the same name in October 2020.^[21] It was a semi-finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards.^[22]

In 2022, Cook contributed an essay titled Why I Left to the anthology New Jersey Fan Club: Artists and Writers Celebrate the Garden State (Rutgers University Press 2022) about her complicated feelings on her hometown.^[23]

On January 9, 2024, Cook released the third and final book in her "mixtape" poetry series, entitled The Music Was Just Getting Good^[24].

Cook's writing success and efforts to combat the opioid epidemic earned her recognitions. This includes a Women with Voices Award from the Women with Voices Foundation and a "special voices" award from NJPBS. She was also a "public health hero" finalist by NJBIZ.^[25][26][27] In 2023 she received a "40 under 40" award from The Irish Echo.^[28]

Bibliography

• Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately
• Heroin Is the Worst Thing to Ever Happen to Me: A Collection of Essays
• I Hope My Voice Doesn't Skip
• Sorry I Haven't Texted You Back
• New Jersey Fan Club: Artists and Writers Celebrate the Garden State
• The Music Was Just Getting Good