2. Alicia Cook

WHEN YOU MEET ALICIA COOK, YOU IMMEDIATELY KNOW SHE HAS A BIG HEART.

She leads with her passion -- for music, for poetry and words, for making the world a better place -- and her passion is totally contagious.

I got introduced to Alicia by our mutual friend, Jordan Emanuel, when I told her I wanted to write and create music for other people’s projects more often. Alicia’s two books of poetry are heavily inspired by music, and she asked me to arrange one of the poems from her latest collection as a song, “Too” which we released as a single on Spotify and iTunes.

Alicia also helped this English major check off a huge bucket list moment: I got to sing at her book signing at Barnes & Noble in New Jersey when her book came out last summer! I nerded out so hard because I pretty much lived in Barnes & Noble during high school and college. After the signing, we went to the Applebees next door and talked all about our hopes and dreams. I think she is a songwriter at heart, and I might be a poet at heart, so we are kindred spirits in more ways than one.

Illustration by Emily Ohlrich (Ink+Oil)
This interview has been edited and condensed.

What is your name?
Alicia Cook

What would you say you do?  
I’m a writer. I write the words down.

How long have you been doing it for?
Since third grade.

First thing you wrote.
About a bike I wanted, and the poem rhymed. Submitted to an anthology, called “The Bike that I want.”

Why did you do it?
Writing was always a way I could work stuff out; get it out of my system and potentially move on from it. I knew that I was good at it. Teachers would affirm that. I still love to read, maybe I could write books one day. At the heart of it, it’s working stuff out.

Where did you grow up?
Belleville, New Jersey until I was 16 then moved to the Jersey shore. Now I’m in Newark.

How does that influence your work?
A lot, locationally. I write from real life, so instead of just saying for example, “I drove over the bridge,” I name the bridge. Thomas J Mathis Bridge. I think putting specific landmarks in pieces, it helps people connect even more. There is a lot of city and beach imagery in past work.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
See I wouldn’t want to come back! Once my story is over, it’s over, and I think it’s carried on through other things. I feel like I’m meant to be here as Alicia Cook.

What is your greatest fear?
Not reaching my full potential. Fear can hold you back from a lot. I think I battle that.

What is your most treasured possession?
When my parents moved our family, I was a junior in high school. That is a tough transition for any young person to make. My mother gave me a greeting card about accepting change, and wrote a note to me in it. That was in 2002. I’ve moved a good amount since then. I still have it.

What is your mantra these days?
What is meant for you will not pass you. That and “I didn’t come this far to only come this far” —they are unknown proverbs. They are my daily mantras, always. It’s hard not to compare yourself.

If you could fix one thing in the world, what would you fix?  
The opioid crisis. I would make it so no one becomes addicted to an opiate ever again.

Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?
Leonardo DiCaprio but I would also want him as bedroom guest. But seriously, my mother’s mother – my grandmother. I never met her and I bought the house she used to live in.

When you walk into a bar, what do you typically order?
French fries with hot sauce.

Alicia Cook is an established writer and award-winning activist from New Jersey. She has made notable efforts to combat the heroin epidemic, including writing and speaking engagements, exploring the direct impact addiction has not only on the user, but the family and friends as well. Her second poetry collection, “I Hope My Voice Doesn’t Skip,” was released through Andrews McMeel Publishing in June of 2018. In January she released a surprise collection of love poetry entitled "Anomaly”.

You can also find Alicia here: Instagram | Website | Twitter