Dr. DuEwa Frazier, a.k.a. NERD-IN-CHIEF, is a poet, writer, scholar, digital creator, performer, and speaker from Brooklyn and St. Louis. As an innovator, she has produced work in multiple facets of the arts, digital media, and publishing.

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Her career includes teaching and curriculum leadership for public schools and universities. The founder of Lit Noire Publishing, curator and host organizer for poetry and arts events, and creator of digital podcasts, DuEwa has also been a leader in the arts for many years. A frequent keynote and conference speaker, DuEwa's 2019 TEDx talk "Word is Bond" focused on hip-hop and education (watch here).

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DuEwa is the editor of two recent scholarly volumes, Introduction to Afrofuturism: A Mixtape in Black Literature & Arts (Routledge) and Teaching Humanities with Cultural Responsiveness at HBCUs and HSIs (IGI Global). She is also the author of several scholarly book chapters published in various edited volumes.

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DuEwa's nonfiction writing focuses on contemporary issues in education, the arts and culture, social justice, hip-hop culture, women's interests, Black literature, and cultural commentary. Her creative writing focuses on poetry, creative nonfiction, children's literature, and other genres.

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DuEwa is the founder of Lit Noire Publishing, DuEwa World Digital, Black Scholars in Podcasting, and Never Scared Writers & Academics.

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DuEwa is the author of several volumes of poetry and books for young readers including Shedding Light From My Journeys, Stardust Tracks on a Road, Ten Marbles and a Bag to Put Them In, Goddess Under the Bridge: Poems, Deanne in the Middle, Quincy Rules, Check the Rhyme: An Anthology of Female Poets & Emcees, and Baby Ray's Old School vs. New School Hip-Hop Party.

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Awards, recognitions, and fellowships DuEwa has received include Black Caucus of the American Library Association Award at the Annual Conference, NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Literary Work - Poetry, Mayor's Proclamation and Recognition from the University City, University Arts and Letters Commission (St. Louis), NWSA Women of Color Leadership Project, Fellowship with Rutgers University Center for Minority Serving Institutions, Hurston Wright Foundation Writer's Week Fellowship, and Voices of Color Fellowship with Martha's Vineyard Institute for Creative Writing. 

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As a poet, author, and performer, she has featured on Fox 2 St. Louis with her children's book Alice's Musical Debut, Manhattan Cable Network (Camille Yarborough's Ancestor House), Brooklyn Cable Access TV, Charlotte Public Access TV, We TV with comedian Chuck Nice, and other on-camera tapings. DuEwa has been a featured theater actress in the Winter Forum at Looking Glass Theater (NYC) and in the independent film "Passengers of 7D" written and directed by Sharifa Williams (IMDb).

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DuEwa has been a featured poet at Skylight Gallery (Restoration Plaza, Brooklyn), Bowery Poetry Club (NYC), Nuyorican Poets (NYC), Satta Gallery (Brooklyn), Paris Lit Up (Paris, FR), One Breath Rising Series (virtual/NY), Wordstock (Brooklyn), Kelly Writer's House (Univ. of Penn), Brick City Poetry Festival (St. Louis), Unity Series (St. Louis), Verbalization at Museum of Afro American Artists (Boston), Poetree (St. Louis), Center for Black Literature - Medgar Evers College (Brooklyn), Afrikan Poetry Theater (Queens), Brownstone Poets (Brooklyn), African Voices Cultural Circle Conference (Harlem), Pomegranate Reading Series (Brooklyn), 100 Thousand Poets for Change (St. Louis), UrbArts St. Louis), Women's History Poetry Celebration - MO History Museum (St. Louis), Yale Club (NYC), Black Poets Speak Out - Regional Arts Commission (St. Louis), Stamford High School (CT), La Pena Cultural Arts Center (Berkeley), Erasmus Academy (Brooklyn), Community Charter School (Brooklyn), Poet's Den (DC), House of Brown (Brooklyn), Clef Club of Jazz (Phila.), October Gallery (Phila.), Brownstone Poets (Brooklyn), Manchester Arts Festival (St. Louis), Po'Jazz - Webster (St. Louis), Poetry by the Point (St. Louis), All Write Festival at Webster Groves High School (St. Louis), New Market Theater (Phila.), Riverview Players (Harlem), and others. She has given talks, workshops, readings and/or book signings at Harlem Book Fair (Harlem), ReVERSE Festival at Bronx Museum (Mosaic Magazine), Indianapolis Book Festival (IN), Johns Hopkins African American Book Festival (MD), Queens Book Festival (Queens), Countee Cullen Library (Harlem), Morningside Arts Alliance - Read Out Loud Festival (NYC), Howard University Bookstore (DC), Karibu Books (MD), Charis Books (ATL), Left Bank Books (St. Louis), Pratt Library (MD), St. Louis Public Library (St. Louis), Kirkwood Library (St. Louis), Queens Library (Queens), University City Library (St. Louis), Temple University (Phila.), West Virginia Wesleyan College, Brooklyn Public Library (Brooklyn), and others.

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​Her poetry has been published in Arlington Literary Journal, Split this Rock, Drumvoices Revue, Kweli Journal, Reverie Midwest Journal of African American Literature, Brownstone Poets Anthology, Black Renaissance Noire, Black Arts Quarterly, Water Magazine, Eleven Eleven Literary Journal, X Magazine, Poetry Ink Anthology, Poetry in Performance, Black Imagination Vol. II, Tidal Basin Review, The African, Check the Rhyme: An Anthology of Female Poets & Emcees, Signifyin' Harlem Literary Journal, Rocket Learning literacy readers, and others.

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DuEwa has given keynote addresses or facilitated training and professional development at conferences, schools, libraries, and arts venues. DuEwa has presented and given talks at conferences, including annual CLA, CEA, CCCC, NCTE, AWP, Black Caucus of ALA, and others. 

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DuEwa created the website FreshGoddess.com in 2013 to market beauty, entertainment, and cultural content. As a former book publicist and news editorial writer, DuEwa merged her strong writing skills with her savvy in social media marketing and began to promote writing, books, poets, and podcasts. DuEwa has curated several digital offerings, including one of THE FIRST pandemic literary readings hosted online in 2020. Merging her love for writing, speaking, and connecting with audiences, she created the digital podcast titled NERDACITY in 2020. At the time, there were few literary-focused digital podcasts. Since 2020, DuEwa has been producing digital podcasts, NERDACITY, and more recently, That's Code, for a community of audiences who love cultural and entertainment-based content with commentary. Currently, NERDACITY PODCAST, hosted and produced by DuEwa, has listeners across the US and abroad in France, Germany, and other countries. DuEwa's digital blog @ MEDIUM is followed by over 500+ readers. Her podcast AFROFUTURES POD features scholars and poets who work on themes and initiatives related to Afrofuturism and Black Arts. 

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DuEwa holds degrees in English (BA), Creative Writing (terminal MFA), Educational Leadership with Initial School Principal Certification (EdM), Curriculum and Teaching (MS), and the Doctorate in Higher Education Leadership (EdD). She also holds a permanent New York State teaching license in English and a standard Missouri State teaching license in Language Arts.