The Online Criminal Queerness Festival brings together renowned queer playwrights from around the world .  Produced by the National Queer Theater and Dixon Place who are providing a platform for artists facing censorship, shining a light on critical stories from across the globe. In order to build a truly global queer community,

A NYC Mayor’s Grant for Cultural Impact awardee, the festival is proud to partner with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs for community engagement and outreach. 

These writers are inspiring activism and shaping our culture towards the equitable treatment of LGBTQ people around the world. This year they include : 

Migguel Anggelo is a Venezuelan born / Brooklyn based multidisciplinary artist.  His work explores the intersections of queer, Latino, and immigration identities, as well as the role of the artist in contemporary society.  Migguel Anggelo is currently a 2020 Resident Artist of the NY Presenter Consortium and was previously a 2019 Joe’s Pub Working Group resident. .   Instagram: @migguelanggelo

​Sivan Battat is an Iraqi-Jewish theatre director, cultural worker and educator. Sivan has worked at numerous theaters across NYC and elsewhere, including with the Atlantic Theater, Ars Nova, MCC, NYTW, Audible Theatre, Studio Theatre, Mosaic Theater, American Conservatory Theater, Seattle Repertory Theater, the Shakespeare Theatre, the Arab-Hebrew Theatre of Jaffa and more. 

Shayok Misha Chowdhury is a queer Bengali director, writer, and performance-maker based in Brooklyn. He is currently in residence at The Public Theater and BRIC, and recently at New York Theatre Workshop, Soho Rep, Ars Nova, The Drama League, and The Flea. Recent/upcoming collaborations: MUKHAGNI (Under the Radar) with Kameron Neal; BEAST THING (The Drama League) with Aleshea Harris; SPEECH (BRIClab & Philly Fringe) with Lightning Rod Special; HOW THE WHITE GIRL GOT HER SPOTS AND OTHER 90s TRIVIA (Joe’s Pub) with Laura Grill Jaye; ANTIOCH MASS (The Shed) with Troy Anthony; RASGOS ASIATICOS (Soho Rep) and YOUR HEALING IS KILLING ME (PlayMakers Rep) with Virginia Grise.

Mashuq Mushtaq Deen is a resident playwright at New Dramatists and a 2019 Lambda Literary Award Winner. His full-length plays include Flood, The Betterment Society, The Shaking Earth, and Draw the Circle (productions: PlayMakers Rep, Mosaic Theatre, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre; published: Dramatists Play Service; winner Lambda Literary Award). 

Amahl Khouri is a queer transgender Jordanian documentary playwright and theatremaker based in Berlin. Khouri is the author of several plays, including She He Me (Kosmos Theatre, Vienna 2019), ICH BRAUCHE MEINE RUHE (Politik im Freien Theater Festival, Munich 2018) and No Matter Where I Go (Beirut 2014). Khouri is also a part of the Climate Change Theater Action and their play Oh, How We Loved Our Tuna! was read internationally as part of the initiative. 

​Omar Abbas Salem is a Chicago-based actor and playwright originally from Syria, Turkey, and Egypt. His Chicago acting credits include: Linda and Earthquakes in London (Steep Theatre), Pinocchio (The House Theatre), Princess Mary (Bailiwick Chicago), Le Switch (About Face), INVASION! (Silk Road Rising), Merge and Even Longer and Further Away (The New Colony), and Washer/Dryer (Rasaka Theatre). Regional Credits include: Angels in America I/II, A Christmas Carol, You Across From Me (Actors Theatre of Louisville). 

Sharifa Yasmin is a trans Egyptian-American director based in NYC. She was the Artistic Director and founder of Sojourner Stage Theatre Company, and has completed directing fellowships with The Drama League, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Manhattan Theatre Club, Geva Theatre, Pure Theatre and Hypokrit Theatre.  Directing Credits include plays by Naomi Wallace, Marco Ramirez, Suzan-Lori Parks, Ntozake Shange, Harvey Fierstein, Dael Orlandersmith, Eve Ensler, Saviana Stanescu and Tasha Gordon-Solmon.