Biography:
Laura Frater recently earned her MFA in poetry at UC Davis. She is teaching ENL 3 remotely through the 2024/25 academic year before moving back to New York City where she hopes to continue teaching at the university level.
Alongside her teaching career, Laura is an investigative journalist for major crimes impacting Tribal nations. She is a former contributor to the Two Rivers Tribune, a weekly newspaper in the Hoopa Valley.
As a journalist, Laura is the creator of two major podcasts. The first is The Vanishing Point (a limited series produced with Tenderfoot TV that was downloaded 2.8 million times in 10 weeks). The second is Floodlights, a weekly podcast which Laura also hosts. Floodlights is co-produced by her production company, Blue Thistle Media, and On Native Ground, a Hoopa Tribe media organizatoin. Both shows cover major crimes, including missing and murdered people cases, affecting Tribal communities in North America.
Born and raised in Scotland, Laura completed her BA and AKC at King’s College London and her MA at Iona College, New York, in Holocaust Literature. She loves to dance and plays traditional Scottish music on the violin.
Interests
Poetry; poetry and pedagogy, tribal law; federal Indian law; investigative reporting; the MMIP crisis
Education
M.F.A. (concentration in poetry), UC Davis, 2024
M.A., English, Iona College, 2018
B.A., English Language and Literature, King's College London, 2013
A.K.C., Theology, Philosophy and Ethics, King's College London, 2013
Publications
"WHO KILLED TERRI LYNN MCCLOSKEY?" Two Rivers Tribune, March 2023.
"LAURIE GRAY and KADIJAH BRITTON- Domestic Violence Awareness Month." Two Rivers Tribune, October 2022.
"BARBARA JEAN MCCNEIL - Still Unsolved." Two Rivers Tribune, August 2022.
"NICK VIGIL - Someone's going to say something eventually: Still Missing." Two Rivers Tribune, July 2022.
"VIRGIL BUSSELL JR. - If people know something, they need to come forward: Still Missing." Two Rivers Tribune, June 2022.
"ANGELA MCCONNELL - Change is coming: Still Unsolved." Two Rivers Tribune, May 2022.
"SUMI JUAN - Will they talk when they need to?: Still Missing." Two Rivers Tribune, April 2022.
“ANDREA CHICK WHITE - It’s time for her to come home: Still Missing.” Two Rivers Tribune, April 2022.
At the Final Verse of "Tell Out My Soul." LitStream Magazine, August 2021.
"Poetry Makes Something Happen." The Museum Review, March 2020.
"Why ISIS Should Be Called Daesh: Reflections on Religion and Terrorism." Review of talk in ISLAMiCommentary, November 2014.
“About Time” by Eva Hoffman. Royal Society of Literature Annual Review, January 2012.
Awards
The Deirdre Hackett Endowment Award, June 2022
Humboldt Journalism Project Grant, May 2022
UC Davis Provost's Fellowship, September 2020- September 2021