Naomi Wallace was born in Prospect, Kentucky, to Henry F. Wallace, a photojournalist and correspondent for Time and Life magazines, and Sonja de Vries, a Dutch justice and human rights worker.

Currently, she divides her time between Kentucky and the Yorkshire Dales in Northern England (UK), where she lives with her partner, Bruce McLeod.

"[7] In the mid-2000s, Wallace was briefly detained by the United States Department of Homeland Security after defying the ban on travel to Cuba.

[12] In 2009, One Flea Spare was incorporated into the permanent répertoire of the French National Theatre, the Comédie-Française, and produced there in 2012.

Only two American playwrights have ever been added to La Comédie's repertoire in 300 years: the other being Tennessee Williams.