Lillien Waller

Writer | Copy Editor

United States

Versatile writer and copy editor specializing in storytelling and content development for educational and cultural institutions, foundations and nonprofits. I translate interviews and research into compelling feature articles, profiles and social content. Working alongside communications and program teams, I produce audience-centered, publication-ready narratives.

Portfolio

Institutional and Alumni Storytelling: Profiles & Features

Kresge Foundation
Legacy in Motion

"Legacy in Motion" explores the mentorship of Marion Hayden, Detroit's "Queen of the Bass" and 2025 Kresge Eminent Artist. The essay appears in Daughter of the Way, a monograph celebrating Hayden's five-decade musical journey. Role: Writer

Commonwealth School
Crises in Covid's Shadow

The U.S. carceral system is a public-health crisis marked by widespread violence, overcrowding, and inadequate sanitation, healthcare, and mental-health resources. That was before the pandemic. Role: Writer

MSU Today | Michigan State University
Alumna creates and exhibits Black Art Library

Black Art Library is the focus of an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), opening February 5 and on view through April 18. The exhibition showcases Asmaa Walton’s collection of nearly 400 books, research materials, and ephemera on Black visual art and artists. Role: Writer

Institutional and Alumni Storytelling: Editorial [Complete Publications]

College for Creative Studies
C Magazine

Legacy edition of CCS’s annual magazine deep dives into nearly three decades of the institution’s history, reinvention and expansion and celebrates the tenure of former President Richard L. Rogers. Roles: Creative Strategy/Writer/Editor

College for Creative Studies
Alumni Magazine

Visually arresting, promotional 'zine highlights alumni accomplishments for a young adult audience. Inside: Black Panther, muralist Sydney G. James and world-class kicks. Roles: Magazine Co-Creator/Creative Strategy/Writer/Editor

Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago
not all realisms: photography, Africa, and the long 1960s

Exhibition publication offers an expanded series of cross-disciplinary perspectives on photography in Ghana, Mali, and South Africa through the long 1960s—amid resistance, revolution, new nationalist and transnational movements, and the stuff of daily life. Role: Copy editor.

Ms. Foundation For Women
Pocket Change: How Women and Girls of Color Do More with Less

Women and girls of color are pivotal frontline leaders and organizers in the powerful social change movements that pave the way for a more equitable and just democracy. This report, Pocket Change: How Women and Girls of Color Do More With Less, seeks to better understand how they do this work and asks critical questions of philanthropy and donors. Role: Copy editor for Pocket Change and fact sheets

Practice Essay Series (Commission)

Kresge Arts in Detroit: Practice Series
Her Heart Will Be Weighed and Measured

“That piece was about the death ritual [of Ancient Egyptians] and the goddess Maat,” Ezzat explains, noting that our hearts hold our virtues as well as our sins. Roles: Series Creator/Writer

Kresge Arts in Detroit: Practice Series
How To Draw Your Own Face

Let’s not pretend, Kee seems to say, that the fear of harm (the apprehension) in this image can be viewed outside the broader context of that era’s fear of a “yellow peril”—and this one’s. But who’s in peril here? Roles: Series Creator/Writer

Kresge Arts in Detroit: Practice Series
Breath

What can we discover that a pandemic hasn’t already taught us about the precious, and fleeting, nature of breathing? Or is it, rather, not what breath is or does—an automatic reflex—but what it tells us about the passage of time? Roles: Series Creator/Writer