Mary Colussi is an Australian American comedy writer whose work explores speculative futures, the intricacies of human relationships, and the horrors (and very occasional joys) of the digital age. She writes screen- and teleplays, fiction, satire, and plays, but no matter the medium, her writing is bold, witty, and steeped in contemporary issues, both personal and political. Most of her work is about bad things happening to funny people, but she also dabbles in funny things happening to bad people.

Mary grew up in a New England fishing village. Regrettably, she’s the only member of her family of Aussie expats stuck with an American accent. At 17, she moved to New York City to pursue a BFA in dramatic writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. While at NYU, she completed seven internships: Five in creative development at companies such as Comedy Central and Playground Entertainment, one in production at the late-night political comedy show Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and one in the mailroom of the United Talent Agency.

After graduating into a pandemic – she’s sure you remember it – Mary pursued freelance writing for about a year. Her satire and fiction were published by The Belladonna, The Broadway Beat, and Rejection Letters, among others, before she was hired as an Editorial Fellow at BuzzFeed. She covered a wide range of topics including queer culture, TV and film, and books, before leaving the site as a junior staff writer in 2023. Her time in digital media informs much of her creative work and fuelled a fascination with fan culture and the content economy.

After seven years in New York, she moved to Sydney to pursue an MFA in dramatic writing at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. At NIDA, she’s put her prior training and outsider perspective to the test by developing character-driven comedies, often with a high-concept (or just plain apocalyptic) twist. Her debut speculative fiction novel Touch Grass was long listed for Hachette Australia’s 2024 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers, and she received a 2025 Residential Fellowship from the National Writers House at Varuna to develop the same project. It’s partly about an immortal sheep, which really sums up her whole vibe.