Who is Katie Pollock?
I am a playwright and emerging screenwriter. Recent shows include Human Activity at KXT, Rough Trade at the Seymour Centre and Theatre Works in Melbourne – a solo show which I performed myself (terrifying!) – and Normal at Old 505, which went on to be produced by theatres across Australia and happily won numerous awards. My play People Inside Me won the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award, and I’m very excited to say is heading into its premiere season at Flight Path Theatre in August – yay!
What would you do differently from what you do now?
Have more money? Jokes. Also not a joke. The ability to work as an artist in our cultural climate is so often tied up with economics. Opportunity is not equal and never has been. Still, I am a firm believer in starting from where you are now. Optimism and hope are not naïve, they are acts of political resistance, so I often give myself the rallying talk: write more, read more, pay attention.
Who inspires you and why?
David Bowie, a true free thinker and a genius. He said you should always go a bit further into the water than you feel safe, so your feet aren’t quite touching the bottom, and that’s where you’ll do something exciting. Also my friend and fellow playwright Suzie Miller, who is hugely talented and the hardest working person I know.
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
Try to be the best I can at what I do. We have no idea how or if our work will impact someone else or nudge the world in any way. But if I write truthfully, honestly and fearlessly, then I will have done all I can to help forge connection instead of division.
Favourite holiday destination and why?
The past few years I’ve had to go to the UK a lot for family reasons. It’s definitely not my favourite place (although of course London has its charms), but it does make a good jumping-off point. So I’ve managed trips to Amsterdam and Copenhagen which have been excellent. I love wandering around a new city and getting a tiny bit lost. Next trip I want to spend time in Ireland and explore some roots there. Ridiculous that it’s so close to the UK but I have barely spent any time there.
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take them to, and why?
Assuming they’d rush off to the beach by themselves, I’d take them to the Art Gallery of NSW for beautiful art, then to a dingy bar or two in Enmore for drinks, music and good vibes.
What are you currently reading?
I just re-read Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own (hence the reminder about cultural economics) and Ian McEwan’s latest What We Can Know, which is a rare novel about climate change dystopia without being preachy – a fascinating exploration of memory and yearning. Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams’ memoir of working at Facebook, is next on my list because I constantly battle with too much time online and I need a reminder of why it’s so bad for me.
What are you currently listening to?
I just resubscribed to the New York Times and am loving their Opinions and Modern Love podcasts.
Happiness is?
Lying on the sofa with a good book, one cat on my lap and the other on my chest. I can be happily stuck there for hours.
What does the future hold for you?
Funny you should ask that. One of the characters in People Inside Me says this: “I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. Fuck, I don’t even know what’s going to happen tomorrow. But I’m here now. And there is only now. That’s all I’ve got.”
Katie is the Playwright of People Inside Me – which will be presented at the Flightpath Theatre, Marrickville, from 5 – 15 August 2026. For more information, visit: www.flightpaththeatre.org for details.
Image: Katie Pollock (supplied)