They had so many writing talents to share with the world and yet is gone too soon.
On Sunday December 15th, writer Aziza “Z” Barnes tragically took their own life. They were only 32 years old.
Raised in Los Angeles, Barnes attended New York University where they received a BFA and served as a member of the school’s award winning slam poetry team. In 2013, Barnes published a chapbook entitled me Aunt Jemima & the nailgun. For their work, Barnes received the inaugural Exploding Pinecone Prize from Button Poetry. Later in 2015, they released their first full-length poetry collection i be but i ain’t. For this, they received the Pamet River Prize from YesYesBooks.
Barnes was also an accomplished playwright. They made their professional playwriting debut with the comedy BLKS. The show first premiered at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in 2017. It later transferred to Off-Broadway in 2019 at the MCC Theater. For the Off-Broadway run, Barnes was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award.
Other works of Barnes include the play Pues Nada and the poetry collection The Blind Pig. On top of all of this, Barnes was well-known for their work on television. They served as a television writer for shows such as FX’s Snowfall, Netflix’s Teenage Bounty Hunters and Max’s Rap Sh!t. They even worked as a writer on the upcoming Game of Thrones spinoff Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The show is set to be released on HBO in 2025.