MAYA (celia) OWEN

Her poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net anthologies, longlisted for Palette Poetry’s Emerging Poet Prize, Foundlings Press’ Ralph Angel Poetry Prize (selected by Mary Ruefle), and highlighted in Frontier Poetry’s list of Exceptional Poetry From Around the Web. She has worked as a reader for various literary journals, facilitated writing workshops, and performed poetry at events around the UK. She was selected to participate in the London Library Emerging Writers Programme, where she will complete her debut poetry pamphlet.

As a theatremaker, she constructs a queer-feminist magic realism that centres fabulous creatures, monstered others, and spectacles of transgression. In 2026 she began developing her first full-length show, SEAM, OR THE GOSPEL OF SCHMUTZ inside CRIPtic Arts‘ Reach programme. Two of her short plays, YOU DON’T HAVE TO STAY HERE BUT YOU CAN’T GO HOME and SPREAD have been produced, respectively, as part of KDC Theatre‘s New Writing Competition and for UntoldCollectiv‘s Short & Mighty programme. She created and performed her original cabaret act WET WORK as part of Carnesky’s Radical Cabaret School, and then shared it again at Club Silly.

Towards her goal of making art pop for outsiders, she is working on her first singles as Maya Celia with Iona Catherine Productions. Meanwhile, she is learning to produce music to support her singing/songwriting practice, and has benefitted from songwriting time as Sadeh Farm‘s artist-in-residence, a support grant from Radical Body Arts, and a place on Piehouse Co-Op’s Marginalised Artists Programme. She will play her first show as part of the Piehouse Presents gig series. She recently received the DYCP grant from Arts Council England to develop herself as an independent musician.

Further to this creative hodgepodge, she has directed and assistant-directed one-act and full-length plays, acted on stage and screen alongside her twin – and worked as a supporting artist in the film and television industry for many years. She is currently pursuing extra performance skills including clowning, improv, and dance.

If you meet her at a party, she will tell you she is Mad, gay, and once broke into the British Museum inside a wooden horse.