DENA IGUSTI is a queer Indonesian Muslim writer born and raised in Queens, New York. Alongside using playwriting and poetry to preserve archives of queer Indonesian and Southeast Asian diasporic migration in New York City, they use writing to advocate for survivors of gender-based violence.
They are the author of ECDYSIS: CACOPHONY OF SKINS (14Poems, London 2025) and CUT WOMAN (Game Over Books, 2020), which has been listed as a 2022 Perennial Award Winner, 2020 Harvard Bookstore Staff Pick, and Entropy Mag’s Best Of 2020-2021. They are the co-playwright of the wish: a manual for a last-ditch effort to save abortion in the united states through theater (2023 A is For Winner). They are the Inaugural 2023 NYFA Ryan Hudak Playwright Award Winner. They received a 2026 New York City Council Citation Award for Performance Art.
Their work has been featured in BOAAT Press, Peregrine Journal, Colorbloq, and several other publications. Their work has been produced and performed at Guggenheim, LA Times, The Brooklyn Museum, The Apollo Theater, Women Deliver, the 2018 Teen Vogue Summit, Prelude Festival (Cut Woman, 2020), Center At West Park (CON DOUGH, 2021), The Tank (First Sight at LimeFest, 2021), New Ohio Theatre (Kept in the Dark, 2022), The Public (BLISS at Breaking The Binary Theatre Festival, 2023) HERE Arts (What You Are To Me, National Queer Theater’s Criminal Queerness Fest, 2025) and several other venues internationally. They have been featured in Business Insider, Teen Vogue, American Theatre Magazine, and more. have been commissioned by Motor Theatre Company, The Miranda Family Fund, and more.
They are a New York for Arts & Culture Resident Artist, Radical Dreamyard at Guggenheim Fellow, More Art Engaging Artist Fellow, Asian American Arts Alliance Grant Recipient, NYFA Women’s Fund Recipient, Brooklyn Public Library Heritage Ambassador, Asian American Writers’ Workshop Open City Fellow, Culture Push Fellow, and more.
In advocacy, They have served as an advisory board member for the New York City Council’s FGM/C Advisory Committee. They have presented calls for intersectional approaches to FGM/C survivor advocacy at Women Deliver, Reed Smith, Equality Now, and the United Nations CSW69 and CSW70. They currently serve as the Chair for Survivor Wellness and Arts Programming for Justice For Girls.
Books & Pubs
Dena Igusti is the author of ECDYSIS: CACOPHONY OF SKINS (Fourteen Poems, 2025) and Cut Woman (Game Over Books, 2020). Dena Igusti’s poetry and essays have been featured in BOAAT Press, Peregrine Journal, Shanghai Literary Review, Teen Vogue, Womanly Mag, Flypaper, & more.
Plays & Performances
Dena Igusti’s plays, films, and poetry have been produced and performed at HERE Arts, The Public Theater, The Guggenheim, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Museum, Write About Now, Prelude Festival, Teen Vogue Summit, The Tank, Center At West Park, & more.
What You Are To Me, HERE Arts
[National Queer Theater, 2025]
BLISS, The Shiva Theater at The Public
[Breaking The Binary, 2023]
Advocacy & Collabs
Dena Igusti is a 2026 New York City Council Citation Awardee. They have worked with New York City Council, United Nations, and other organizations internationally for gender-based violence survivor advocacy. Dena is an Associated Artist at Converse and a United Nations #TogetherBand Ambassador. They have worked with brands such as Fried Rice, Doc Martens, and Just Water. They have served as an advisory board member for the New York City Council’s FGM/C Advisory Committee.
Dena Igusti 
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