Bio

White woman wearing a dark green jumper smiles slightly looking into the camera. Her hair is long and dark brown on top, fading to blonde at the tips. She has her hands up in her hair. Background is a white wall.

Kaitlyn Blythe (formerly Kaitlyn Plyley) is a writer, performer and producer living in Melbourne. Kaitlyn is a recent graduate of the First Break Victoria program, trained in note-taking, script coordinating and working in a writers room: you can find her on the Australian Writers’ Guild’s Pathways First Break portal.

In 2021 Kaitlyn was selected to participate in both VicScreen’s ORIGINATE screenwriters’ seminar series, and Australians In Film’s UNTAPPED masterclass series.

Kaitlyn’s opinion pieces have been published by VICE, Junkee and The Sydney Morning Herald, and her poetry and essays have appeared in literary magazines around Australia. Find a full list of her writing credits in her Portfolio.

In 2019 Kaitlyn was selected as one of The Wheeler Centre’s Hot Desk Fellowship recipients, and appeared in their Next Big Thing showcase. She also received a 2019 Copyright Agency IGNITE grant to work on her unpublished book manuscript about chronic illness, Suddenly 80. In 2021, Kaitlyn received a City Of Melbourne Arts Grants as well as a grant from Regional Arts Victoria’s Sustaining Creative Workers Initiative to produce a live event for her podcast Just A Spoonful.

Now a resident of Melbourne, Kaitlyn has also lived in Cairns, Brisbane and Perth. She lived in England while studying abroad at Royal Holloway, University of London, and has spent significant time visiting the United States as her parents had immigrated from the US to Australia before she was born. Kaitlyn holds dual American/Australian citizenship and a hybrid accent that confuses people on a regular basis.

Kaitlyn has trained in storytelling under teachers from LA’s The Moth and NYC’s Upright Citizens Brigade. A founding member of Perth’s popular Barefaced Stories, she has performed true stories from her life at festivals around Australia, and created a workshop series for Brisbane’s Yarn Storytelling.

A former Australian Poetry Slam national finalist, Kaitlyn has a collection of her spoken word poetry in the 2013 Fremantle Press anthology Fremantle Poets 3: Performance Poets. In 2014 she developed and toured her debut solo show Not Much To Tell You, a combination of stand up comedy, personal stories and poetry.

Kaitlyn is a disabled queer woman. She lives with and writes about Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. Her pronouns are she/her.

Words about Kaitlyn:

“creative powerhouse”

Melbourne City Of Literature

“She’s a master story teller, broadcaster, poet and writer …

and best of all, has the real gift of the gab.”

Concrete Playground

“Her warm and personal style weaves poetry, storytelling and comedy into a captivating concoction.”

The Courier Mail

“Set audience members groaning in agreeance”

Perth Now

“Kaitlyn Plyley may be a genius …

Clearly defined, eloquent and thought-provoking …

Plyley brought the house down.”

Matthew Giles

“Kaitlyn’s story instantly caught the audience ...

Delivered with style and passion.”

Theatre Australia

“Hilarious … Side-splitting.”

Colosoul
Five panellists sitting on a stage. From left to right: an Indigenous woman, a white woman with a walking stick, a white man, an Asian woman, and an Indigenous woman.
2017 OzPod panel ‘How diverse is Podlandia?’ L-R: Lorena Allam, Kaitlyn Blythe, Benjamin Riley, Beverley Wang, Dr Lauren Rosewarne. (Photo credit: ABC)