Natalie Cook

About Natalie Cook

Natalie Cook is a filmmaker, poet, and theater-maker. Natalie’s poetry film, “Backwards God,” received the Best Social Justice Film at the New York International Film Awards, the Mini Short Award at the Media Done Responsibly Film Festival, and was the Grand Prize Winner of the AT & T Film Awards. She was selected as a Screenwriting Development Fellow at the NYU Production Lab, and for the Directing the Actor Lab with the Alliance of Women Directors. Born and raised in Atlanta, Natalie began showcasing her gift for poetry at a very young age. And because poetry had such a positive impact on her life, she founded Atlanta Word Works when she was only sixteen in hopes that young people would find ways to express themselves through creative writing and spoken word poetry, just as she had. Natalie served as the Executive Director and Artistic Director of Atlanta Word Works for eight years. Atlanta Word Works merged with VOX ATL in 2016. Natalie was inducted into the VOX Hall of Fame in 2023. Aside from teaching aspiring poets in Atlanta Word Works, she has also taught numerous workshops in writing, spoken word, and poetry-film at Amherst College, Syracuse University, Bowdoin College, the Global Village Project, and more. Natalie was once a competing member of the Atlanta slam team that she coached from 20••••16 (Brave New Voices), has individually won several writing contests and poetry slams, and has performed at many venues around the country and across the globe. She has opened for activists and artists such as Congressman John Lewis, John Legend, Nikki Giovanni, Saul Williams, Sonia Sanchez, and MC Lyte. Natalie is also the writer and director of “MANIKIN,” an interdisciplinary production that explores gender relations between Black men and Black women living in modern day America. “MANIKIN” toured throughout Atlanta and was also featured in the Line Breaks Festival, the Chicago Hip Hop Theater Festival, and the NYU Gallatin Arts Festival. Natalie earned her master\'s degree at the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she designed an interdisciplinary program that combines Film, Black Studies, and Arts Education. She is also a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she earned degrees in English with an Emphasis in Creative Writing and Afro-American Studies. She is an alumna of the First Wave Hip Hop Theatre Ensemble, the BARS Workshop at The Public Theater, and the Gates Millennium Scholars Program. Natalie is currently a master\'s student in Theopoetics and Writing at the Earlham School of Religion.

Experience

1. Poetry Teaching Artist

   Get Lit - Words Ignite

   Jan 2026 — Present · Los Angeles, CA, US

   I teach poetry to high school students in the Los Angeles area.

Education

• Earlham School of Religion

  Master of Arts (M.A.), Theopoetics and Writing

  2025 — 2027

• University of Wisconsin-Madison

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Double Major: English with an Emphasis in Creative Writing and Afro-American Studies

  2011 — 2015

• DeKalb School of the Arts

  High School Diploma, Major: Creative Writing • Minor: Media

  2006 — 2011

• NYU Gallatin

  Master of Arts (M.A.), Film, Black Studies, and Arts Education

  2016 — 2018