Creative Polymath | Writer | Director | Producer | Literary Facilitator | Activist | Occasional Drag King

Eljai Morais is a writer, director, producer, activist, and literary facilitator, and the founder of Black Lives Natter CIC—a community arts organisation amplifying Black and Global Majority voices through creative expression, collaboration, and care. With nearly three decades of experience in theatre, writing, and community-led work, Eljai leads with lived experience, radical inclusion, and a belief in the arts' power to transform.

Her work is rooted in theatre, poetry, cabaret, and music—with performance and spoken word at its foundation. These forms aren’t just artistic choices, but languages of survival, memory, and resistance. A lifelong writer, director, and self-described creative polymath, she leads SpeakEasy Page‑to‑Stage—a series of writing workshops supporting Black and Global Majority participants in developing spoken word, poetry, and storytelling for live performance. These form part of the wider BLN programme she curates—from open mics and bookshops to podcasting and cabaret.

Born in Berlin in 1973 to a Jamaican father and English mother and raised in rural Wiltshire, Eljai’s work has been shaped by the intersections of race, class, gender, survival, and expression. In the mid-90s, she gained early experience through work with Black Mime Theatre Company, later performing in their Black Women’s Project production Cinderella and the Shrew (1997). She also attended rehearsals with Adzido Pan-African Dance Ensemble, which bridged her move from rural to urban creativity.In 1995, she founded Frontline Theatre and co-wrote Zero Tolerance, a play about domestic abuse that raised funds for her local Women’s Refuge. She later wrote Feelin’ Different, a piece exploring race and belonging in rural Britain, selected by Talawa Theatre Company and performed for nine weeks at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith as part of the Zebra Crossing season in 1998.

Eljai went on to lead Potential Theatre Co. (1998–2012), focused on TIE and community performance, and to host and produce Bawdsville Cabaret (2012–2017), a subversive space for spoken word, satire, and alter ego performance. In 2020, she founded Black Lives Natter, which launched at the Bush Theatre Studio in March 2022 with a live podcast interview and the first BLN-LIVE event. Since then, BLN has delivered a full calendar of community-led programming. Eljai hosts SpeakEasy Po’JaM—a monthly open mic night—and produces Po’JaM Co’LaB, pop-up bookshops, and two podcast series. In October 2023, she produced Black Joy—an 11-hour community event in partnership with Theatre Deli and supported by Arts Council England. Featuring a marketplace, visual art, talks, open mic, and cabaret, it brought together Black-led organisations including Black History Walks, Black Health Matters, Quest-Life, Mother of Nations, and the National Centre for Circus Arts. The event reflected Eljai’s core values: accessibility, inclusion, creativity, and collective celebration.

A passionate activist, Eljai stood as a Women’s Equality Party candidate in the 2019 General Election, running in Dover against one of five sitting MPs accused of sexual misconduct. The campaign was bold, survivor-led, and community-powered—demanding accountability and centring survivor voices. She later reflected on the experience in The Independent.

Currently, Eljai is writing her first book—a hybrid memoir and writing guide sharing her free-writing method, developed through years of creative facilitation. The book is part of her ongoing commitment to accessible, embodied creative practice.Looking ahead, she continues building Black Lives Natter’s long-term impact. A permanent micro bookshop space inside Theatre Deli is underway, offering donated and pre-loved titles by Black and Global Majority authors. The space will serve as a welcoming hub for reading, gathering, podcast recording, live-streaming, and one-to-one writing sessions. To support the launch, she is developing BlackLash Cabaret, with a charity fundraiser titled Bookish, alongside a SpeakEasy anthology of poems by BLN programme participants. All proceeds go toward the bookshop’s 2027 launch and sustainability. Eljai also plans to launch Black Natter Publishing, a small press to self-publish Global Majority writers. Among its first titles will be her own.

Through all of this, she continues building Black Lives Natter CIC as a sustainable, safe space for Global Majority creatives—grounded in community, creativity, and conversation.