Francesca Pazniokas is a New York-based playwright and filmmaker making social surrealist work. She tells stories about disability, illness, queerness, and radical alienation, often through a fantastical lens.

She was a member of The Outrage’s 2026 Queer Writing Residency and SPACE on Ryder Farm’s 2024 Working Farm Residency, recipient of the 2023 NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre, winner of Clubbed Thumb’s 2020 Biennial Commission, finalist for the Franklin Furnace Fund, Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Heideman Award, and CartHorse Fellowship, and a semi-finalist for The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, Theatre503’s International Playwriting Award, and the Leslie Scalapino Award. She’s developed work with the support of NYFA, STREB, Clubbed Thumb, Pipeline Theatre Company, Atlantic, Panavision, PANO, House of Yes and Irondale.

Contact: francesca.pazniokas@gmail.com