Omar Musa is an author, poet, rapper, and visual artist, based between Brooklyn and Borneo. He has released three poetry books (including Killernova), four hip hop records, and written an acclaimed one man play, Since Ali Died. He was named one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Young Novelists of the Year in 2015 for his novel Here Come the Dogs. He received a standing ovation at TEDx Sydney at the Sydney Opera House. Omar’s book of poetry and woodcut art Killernova (Penguin Random House Australia, 2021) explored themes such as borderlessness, South-East Asian colonial history, ancestral legacies, seafaring, islands, oceans, addiction, and race in Australia. It celebrated his unexpected journey into woodcut prints under the tutelage of punk rock/activist collective Pangrok Sulap in his homeland of Malaysian Borneo. Killernova won the Special Book Award at ACT Notable Book Awards, was longlisted for Australian Literature Society Gold Medal, and Highly Commended for the ACT Book of The Year.
In 2018, Omar wrote a one man play, Since Ali Died, for Griffin Theatre Company, about the death of his childhood hero Muhammad Ali. It was an exploration of his relationship with Islam, Australian racism, friendship, and addiction. Musa did a critically acclaimed national tour of Since Ali Died in venues such as Melbourne Arts Centre, Sydney Festival, Brisbane Festival, Canberra Theatre, OzAsia Festival in Adelaide and Darwin Festival.
Omar’s debut novel, Here Come the Dogs (Penguin Australia, The New Press USA, 2014/2015), explored themes such as Australian racism, powerlessness, and masculinity. Here Come the Dogs won the People’s Choice Award at the ACT Book of Year Awards, was long-listed for the Dublin International Literary Award and Miles Franklin Award, and was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Award for New Writing and the South Australian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction.
Omar has had several solo exhibitions of his woodcut prints, including All My Memories Are Mistranslations at Humble House Gallery in Canberra.
Omar has performed at venues such as the Brixton Academy in London, Sydney Opera House, Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City and The National Museum in Brasilia, Brazil and appeared at international writers festivals such as Sydney Writers Festival (Australia), Read My World Festival (Netherlands), Lagos International Poetry Festival (Nigeria), Edinburgh International Book Festival (Scotland), Toronto International Festival of Authors (Canada), Makassar International Writers Festival (Indonesia), among others. He has performed alongside writers such as Ocean Vuong, Irvine Welsh, and Kae Tempest.
