Who is Tom Holloway?
Tassie born and bred, Melbourne-living father, partner, playwright, spoon carver, and worrier.
What would you do differently to what you do now?
Worry that I should be doing what I am doing now.
Who inspires you and why?
My sharp, witty kids. My big-brained partner. Cookie Monster, because he knows who he is and gets to eat cookies and make a mess and not care one bit about any of it.
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
Feel less empathy and more compassion.
Favourite holiday destination and why?
Last year I went with my family and some friends to a fjord in the Arctic circle. Extremity… Wildness… My loved ones… It was close to perfect.
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take them to, and why?
I grew up in Hobart. If you go up Kunyani (the mountain) and look west, you see a pile of rocks, but it is also probably the longest stretch on the whole planet where there isn’t another human being.
What are you currently reading?
Joseph Weizenbaum’s Computer Power and Human Reason, Russell Hoban’s Riddley Walker, Questlove’s Hip-Hop Is History (with my eldest son), Andrew McDonald and Ben Wood’s Real Pigeons Flap Out (with my youngest son).
What are you currently listening to?
Every song Questlove references in Hip-Hop Is History
Happiness is?
Family, community, creative process.
What does the future hold for you?
My son’s soccer training, my other son’s Aikido class, my partner singing on the radio with her singing group, a room full of artists improving my play at Melbourne Theatre Company and back to London for the press night of my adaptation of Double Indemnity.
Tom is the Playwright of Beyond the Neck – which will be presented at Theatre Works, St Kilda, from 20 March – 4 April 2026. For more information, visit: www.theatreworks.org.au for details.
Image: Tom Holloway (supplied)