Naomi Wallace is an American playwright, screenwriter, and poet. Born in Kentucky to a journalist father of Jewish descent and a Dutch-born aristocratic mother who was an active communist, she grew up in an environment shaped by left-wing politics. She began her writing career in poetry before turning to playwriting, focusing her works on labor history, class dynamics, and political violence.
Wallace is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship (the “Genius Grant”), the Windham–Campbell Literature Prize, and an Obie Award. Her 1995 play, “One Flea Spare,” was incorporated into the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent drama collection and led to her becoming only the second American playwright, after Tennessee Williams, to be staged at the Comédie-Française.
Wallace is a long-time advocate for Palestinian rights and an active supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, frequently signing open letters calling on cultural institutions to refrain from endorsing Israeli military policies. Her 2008 play, “The Fever Chart: Three Short Visions of the Middle East,” explores the daily experiences and losses of civilians in Palestine and Iraq under occupation, directly challenging Western political narratives and media representations of the region.