About Heather

Heather Raffo is an acclaimed Iraqi-American playwright and actor whose work uses theater to explore the emotional costs of violence and war. The New Yorker praised her work as “an example of how art can remake the world.” Heather is best known for her multi-award-winning solo show, 9 Parts of Desire. The play, which she wrote and performed, features the stories of nine different Iraqi women, offering a deeply human look at their lives during and after conflict. The play has toured worldwide for over two decades, helping to create a new genre of Arab-American theater, and a new film adaptation is set to air on PBS in 2025. Expanding her focus on the aftermath of war, Heather wrote the libretto for the opera Fallujah. This significant work, commissioned by the Annenberg Foundation and City Opera Vancouver, tells the story of a U.S. Marine who served in the battle for Fallujah, detailing the trauma of war and its impact on veterans and their families. Her most recent play, Noura, which won the prestigious Weissberger Award, explores the struggles of an Iraqi refugee family living in New York, wrestling with secrets, exile, and their identity. As a long-time Resident Artist at Georgetown University and a Creative Capital awardee, Heather continues to be a leading voice and teacher. She is dedicated to bridging cultural gaps through her ongoing narrative initiative, Places of Pilgrimage, which inspires young Middle Eastern women and others to share their stories and find their voices on stage.