Najee Omar

Najee Omar is a poet, playwright, and performance artist whose work moves at the intersection of storytelling and music. Think Essex Hemphill and Jerrod Carmichael spitting freestyles in Ntozake Shange’s living room. His art invites us to imagine a world where Black queer love and lives aren’t just seen, they’re celebrated.

As a playwright and theater-maker, Najee is building a body of work rooted in rhythm, vulnerability, and lived experience. His debut stage play Little Black Book, an exploration of intimacy, masculinity, and Black queer love, was developed through residencies at SPACE on Ryder Farm (2023) and Hi-ARTS (2024) and has found its home at 651 ARTS. In Fall 2025, his one-act So I Can Love You premiered at Harlem School of the Arts as part of the Learning to Love Fellowship, furthering his exploration of Black queer intimacy across generations. He also appeared as Stephon in Shaun Neblett’s Homage 5: Life After Death at BRIC (2025).

As a poet, Najee writes with tenderness and urgency, often digging into identity, softness, and survival. His poems have appeared in Poet Lore Magazine (2024) and in the anthology That’s a Pretty Thing to Call It: Prose and Poetry by Artists Working in Carceral Institutions (2023).

Beyond the stage, Najee designs public art projects and cultural programs that center storytelling and collective imagination. He has been commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music (2019), The Public Theater (2019), Lincoln Center (2022), and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2023). He was the inaugural Artist-in-Residence with BRIC and University Settlement’s Intergenerational Community Arts Council (2018) and was named a Fort Greene Community Hero (2022). He now serves on the board of the Fort Greene Park Conservancy.

When he’s not writing, he’s probably binging Real Housewives, biking through the city, or getting blissfully lost in music. Najee lives and loves in Brooklyn.