Blog | Nicholsfrazer

Apr 16
5 min

Why Are We Taught to Hide Our Emotions?

I'm not afraid to speak my mind, except when it comes to my emotions, one of my students wrote recently (I'm paraphrasing here). It made...

13 views0 comments

Mar 28
4 min

I'm Kind of Afraid to Go Back to Normal

All week I've been looking forward to my fully-vaccinated grandmother coming over for dinner. I love cooking for people and having them...

43 views0 comments

Mar 13
4 min

Emotions Are Exhausting

When my bipolar disorder brings me down, makes me question and even hate myself, it manifests in my body. I feel drained, weak....

30 views0 comments

Mar 1
3 min

Calling Out Other White People

I manage social media for the Children's Literacy Foundation. Mostly cute pics of kids with books, recommendations of books, articles...

26 views0 comments

Feb 14
3 min

Saying No to the Right Things

Like so many women, in particular, I feel compelled to say "yes" to everything. I've written about saying no before, but that doesn't...

28 views0 comments

Jan 30
3 min

Eating Disorders Never Really Go Away

For a long time, I've said "I had an eating disorder as a young teen," but the truth is, my eating has always been disordered and, even...

31 views0 comments

Jan 15
7 min

Speaking Out: Destigmatizing Mental Health

Lecturing at the Bennington Writing Seminars in January 2019 It was two years ago this week that I first stood up in front of a lecture...

33 views0 comments

Dec 20, 2020
5 min

Finding Joy in Difficult Times

The Christmas I was thirteen my aunts challenged my brother and me to a sledding contest. Our elderly neighbors had a steep hill that...

23 views0 comments

Nov 29, 2020
3 min

A Tether to this World: An Anthology of Mental Health Recovery Stories

The first book with only my name on it About eight months ago, as the global shit was hitting the metaphorical fan, I was on a...

24 views0 comments

Nov 23, 2020
4 min

That Time I Almost Died

I'm a proponent of marking dates to reflect on the past: here's where I was a year ago, here's that big thing that happened five years...

119 views0 comments

Nov 2, 2020
4 min

Vote Like Your Life Depends On It

The first time I was old enough to vote for the President, I was spending a semester in Tunisia. I was living with a host family -...

11 views0 comments

Oct 30, 2020
2 min

Take Those Good Rejections Seriously

My cluttered inbox is full of rejections from literary journals. Rejection is the only way to get anywhere in the writing world. Everyone...

28 views0 comments

Oct 5, 2020
2 min

If Your Goal is to Try, You Can't Fail

"The only form of failure is not writing," Garth Greenwell said at my MFA commencement. I wrote that quote on an index card and stuck it...

6 views0 comments

Sep 27, 2020
2 min

Love What You Create

"Well, congratulations on getting this published last year!" I told my student after I'd read an old poem of hers. "Thanks, but now I...

10 views0 comments

Sep 20, 2020
3 min

Judging Strangers' Most Private Pain

It's a strange thing, judging strangers' most deeply personal pain, but that's what I've been doing as I edit A Tether to this World:...

33 views0 comments

Sep 14, 2020
6 min

When Therapy Makes It Worse

After the manic episode a few years ago that I thought of as a break down ("Think of it more like a breaking open," my therapist said),...

67 views0 comments

Sep 7, 2020
4 min

9-1-1: I Didn't Bring Enough Books.

I'm a reader. As a shy and awkward kid, I read at recess, and on the bus, and while other kids were playing and laughing and being...

36 views0 comments

Aug 31, 2020
4 min

In a Flash: How to Write Flash Fiction

In addition to being a reader for Literary Orphans, I'm also a judge for NYC Midnight, which hosts time-sensitive writing competitions....

17 views0 comments

Aug 21, 2020
4 min

Facing an Existential Crisis or, Attending an Artist Residency During a Pandemic

We were sitting in unstained Adirondack chairs, our feet in the Gihon River. My new friend, Victoria Sottosanti (Read her work!...

49 views1 comment

Aug 1, 2020
2 min

The World Needs Your Art Right Now

"I just don't know if my story matters during a global pandemic," one of my students said this week. She's writing a poetry collection...

14 views0 comments

{"items":["60798ffe6ca61e0016b90fc6","6060a6475eb3720015f4c7c1","604cd9c4e988ce00153db579","603d38ca3406ac0057e52856","6029915534d84f00173d9357","60159ce274b8520017b7117c","6000afac6fbb7b0017d616a5","5fdf5603bda7ab0017f1585f","5fc402668e7c2000170982c5","5fbbe1f747a6f90017525fcb","5fa011b494fa8400180124ae","5f96f03c2dbb190017677e20","5f7b31b101a23e0017510e9d","5f6cf35d4b24bc001762c6d6","5f64ed4a941df10017f1c5c7","5f5e3eb4d47e190017682b86","5f5520a0dcb1600017eb0f00","5f4963a83c3f7e0017c2f897","5f3efc379efa8b0017b9c737","5f2343639d10d50017d72455"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"fill","cubeRatio":1.3333333333333333,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":30,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":32,"galleryMargin":0,"scatter":0,"rotatingScatter":"","chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":1,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCropRatios":"","columnWidths":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":1,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":1,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":true,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":"SHOW_ON_THE_RIGHT","galleryTextAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"nothing","fullscreen":true,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","slideAnimation":"SCROLL","scrollDirection":0,"scrollDuration":400,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imagePlacementAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":0,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":50,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":1,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"jsonStyleParams":"","gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":940,"allowTitle":true,"allowContextMenu":true,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"itemBorderColor":{"themeName":"color_12","value":"rgba(164,164,164,1)"},"showVideoPlayButton":true,"galleryLayout":2,"targetItemSize":940,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|fill|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":false,"externalInfoHeight":0,"externalInfoWidth":0.5},"container":{"width":940,"galleryWidth":972,"galleryHeight":0,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}

2 3 4

Subscribe to Site

First Name

Last Name

I want to subscribe to your mailing list.

Thanks for submitting!