About

Essmaa Litim is a cultural curator, author, and award-winning spoken word artist whose work lives at the intersection of storytelling, social equity, and community building. A first-generation Afro-Arab American, Essmaa uses poetry as both an artistic practice and a public-facing tool for cultural preservation, healing, and advocacy.

Her performances and collaborations span across New England, with notable partnerships including Puma, Moderna, WGBH, Tufts University, the Boston Book Festival, Voices in Power at City Winery, and Poetry Me Please. In recognition of her impact and artistic excellence, she was awarded Spoken Word Artist of the Year by the Boston Music Awards in 2025, and previously received the Extraordinary Woman Award from the Boston Mayor’s Office for Women’s Advancement in 2023 for her commitment and dedication to her community, neighborhood, and workplace.

Essmaa’s work extends beyond the stage into large-scale cultural production and event leadership. She has hosted and produced a wide range of events and festivals, including serving as host for the 2025 Annual Fisherman’s Feast in Boston’s North End. She currently serves as Operations Manager at FreeVerse, a monthly open mic and community arts platform, where she leads programming, artist coordination, and production logistics. 

A published writer, Essmaa’s work has appeared in three literary anthologies between 2024 and 2025. She is the author of the memoir Speechless (2021), which chronicles her family’s immigration to the United States in the 1990s and centers her mother’s journey raising five children while advocating for her youngest son, who is autistic and nonspeaking. Her second book is slated for release in Summer 2026. 

Essmaa is also the founder of Femme Flo, a creative collective dedicated to cultivating creative freedom and honoring the legacy of femme poets—past, present, and future. Since its founding, Femme Flo has curated and hosted three sold-out shows as of 2025, with continued programming planned throughout 2026. 

In addition to her artistic practice, Essmaa brings a multidisciplinary skill set that includes set design, writing workshop facilitation, operations management, public speaking, and cultural moderation. In 2025, she served as a moderator at Grindcon, a Music & Entertainment Business Conference, where she led a dynamic conversation among music executives and entrepreneurs on gatekeepers, platforms, and power moves within the music and entertainment industry. 

Essmaa is currently a Master of Public Health candidate at Boston University, with an anticipated graduation in 2027, further grounding her creative work in a public-health and equity-driven framework. Through poetry, cultural curation, and community leadership, Essmaa Litim continues to amplify marginalized voices, interrogate systems of injustice, and create spaces where art serves both beauty and purpose.