Lily Holloway

Kia ora! I am a writer, editor, and powerlifting enthusiast seeking full-time work after returning from overseas study. I am eager to utilise my diverse skill set and passion for literature to join a workplace where I can contribute to a collaborative and dynamic team.

I recently graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from Syracuse University during which I received both The Joyce Carol Oates Award in Poetry (2025) and The Joyce Carol Oates Award in Fiction (2025). During my time in Syracuse, I completed a poetry collection manuscript and part of a novel (my current project of focus) about the perils of desire, compulsive heterosexuality, growing up during the Ōtautahi earthquakes, and the simultaneous hilarity and pathos of internet life.

During my time at Syracuse University, I taught undergraduate courses in the English Department and the Writing & Rhetoric Department, the highlight of which was the poetry workshop I led with a group of phenomenally talented undergraduate writers. Other courses I have taught include WRT205: Critical Research and Writing, ENG107: Living Writers, and, during my time at The University of Auckland, ENG204: Pacific Literature in English.

In addition to my academic experience, I have done extensive editorial work, serving as the Editor-in-Chief of Salt Hill, Executive Editor of Interesting Journal, Assistant Editor of a fine line, and Sub-Editor for Salient. In 2021, I completed an emerging editors program with The Suburban Review.

I am fortunate to have had my work recognised both locally and internationally. Two recent examples include being named the 2024 runner-up in the Black Warrior Review Poetry Competition judged by Donika Kelly, and winning the 2024 Griffith Review Emerging Voices competition.

Other work of mine can be found in places such as AUP New Poets 8, Black Warrior Review, Ōrongohau | Best New Zealand Poems, Rapture: An Anthology of Performance Poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand, Out Here: An Anthology of Takatāpui and LGBTQIA+ New Zealand Writers, Turbine | Kapohau, Hobart After Dark, Peach Mag, Landfall, Griffith Review, Sundog Lit, Poetry New Zealand Yearbook, Mayhem, Overcommunicate, Sweet Mammalian, blackmail, Hills Hoist, Cordite, Stasis, Scum Mag, The Spinoff, The Griffith Review, Midway Journal, Poetry Lab Shanghai, Milly Magazine, The Poetry Shelf, Starling, Aniko Press, Compound Press, takahē, Salty Mag, The Pantograph Punch, Newsroom, The Gravity of the Thing, Overland, and Mindfood Magazine.