the alicia cook

I love the ocean, champagne, and hour long dramas on TNT and USA.

sketch1472216208417

Alicia is someone you pay attention to, because you just know that whatever she is creating, and putting out into the world, is going to change a life. – Megan Lawrence, Founder, Healing Hopefuls

Alicia Cook is an established writer and award-winning activist from New Jersey. Her work has appeared on the Huffington Post, CNN, USA Today, Teen Vogue, and many more. Her best-selling, self-published book of poetry, “Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately“, was a finalist in the 2016 Goodreads Choice Awards and was later traditionally published by Andrews McMeel Publishing.

Her essay series exploring the direct impact addiction has on not only the user, but the family, “The Other Side of Addiction“, has gained a worldwide readership. Her efforts to combat the heroin epidemic, which include writing, appearing on podcasts, and speaking to students and their parents, caught the attention of PBS Executive Producer, Steve Rogers, who created an episode of his Emmy-nominated documentary series, “Here’s the Story” around Cook and her efforts entitled “A Family Disease.” The episode was dedicated to Cook’s cousin, Jessica, who passed away from a drug overdose in 2006. In the summer of 2017, the episode was officially selected in the New Jersey Recovery Film Festival.

In 2017, Cook’s writing on the topic of addiction and family was recognized at NJTV’s “Everyday Heroes” Event in Trenton, NJ, where she received the “Special Voices” award. That same month, Cook released a collection of essays entitled Heroin is the Worst Thing to Ever Happen to Me. The book is titled after Cook’s most popular essay, which was read over one million times in under two months.

A prolific visionary for humanitarian nonfiction and poetry, [Alicia] believes in the healing nature of writing for herself and her readers. Her work is therefore an even blend of escapism and altruism.- Billy Anania, APP