Junauda Juanita Petrus-Nasah is an American author, filmmaker, performance artist, "pleasure activist",[1][2] and Poet Laureate.

[8] As a child, Petrus wanted to be an astronaut and enjoyed reading V. C. Andrews, Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Anne Rice, and Alice Walker.

[2][9] She and Erik Ehn co-wrote Queen, which was performed at In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre in 2016.

[18] Along with Erin Sharkey, she co-founded the group Free Black Dirt, a collective of writers and creators who seek to "spark and engage in critical conversations".

[2] The group organizes events to showcase original performance and theatre works by emerging artists.