About
Lily Thomson (she/they) is a playwright, poet and dramaturg based on Gadigal land.
Lily completed an MFA in Writing for Performance in 2024 from NIDA. She is using her
skills to work across mediums in theatre, poetry and immersive performance
collaborating with organisations and institutions such as the National Film and Sound
Archive and the Australian Youth Orchestra and the ANU’s School of Cybernetics.
In 2022 Lily was selected as a proud mentee for the She Writes programme with
Theatreworks in Melbourne, with mentors including Patricia Cornelius and Jane Bodie.
In 2024 Lily graduated from NIDA with an MFA in Writing for Performance. During this
same year she was fortunate enough to be selected for ATYP’s National Studio where
she wrote a short queer coming of age piece with magical realism elements called
YOU GIVE ME BUTTERFLIES, which has been commissioned by ATYP and will be
performed at their Intersection Festival . Lily has also worked in collaboration with the
NFSA, NIDA and the School of Cybernetics for the Fantastic Futures Festival, having
made an immersive experience called Imaginative Restoration combining archived
recordings and AI.
Momentum Leaders 2025: What does this project mean to you?”
This project has been such a breath of fresh air, it has been
incredible to collaborate with such generous artists and
mentors working across such different art forms to my own. It
has been freeing to craft a work using the medium of music,
and growing a newfound knowledge and respect for musicians
as well as their instruments in this process. This work has been a
deep dive into unknown territories for me – the written material
of untold stories, working with new people and artforms, I have
felt challenged and like I have grown so much as an artist in
such a short time from the Momentum programme and it has
been especially rewarding because of this.
Lily Thomson
“Does a particular Untold Story in this project speak to you- and
Why?”
All of these stories are so special in their own way. I think that they
each highlight the power of human strength and tenderness in equal
parts. As a poet, I really resonate with both Meg Chandler’s and our
own ensemble member Jess Scott’s poetry. Something that poetry
allows for is for writers to churn out their thoughts and feelings
entirely in their own sequence, rhythm and style. These are two
incredible writers who came to poetry at completely different
times in their life – both using the craft to learn and affirm
more about themselves, their history and the world
around them through a perspective
that is utterly their own