'Unlikely novelist' Dominic Hoey to teach Queenstown writers

Presented by the Queenstown Writers Festival, Dominic Hoey, award-winning poet, author and playwright, will run two creative workshops in Queenstown on Friday, August 9 and Saturday, August 10.

One of New Zealand's most original writers, Mr Hoey wrote the darkly comic, punch-in-the-guts 2022 novel Poor People With Money, which introduced mainstream readers to poverty, gangsters and P-dealing north of the Bombay Hills. His third novel comes out in August.

In many ways, Mr Hoey is an unlikely novelist and creative writing teacher. He is dyslexic and couldn’t read or write until he was eight or nine. He didn’t attend university until his 30s. He came to novel writing through rap, performance poetry and theatre.

But he wants to show that “writing is something that’s open to anyone who’s willing to put in the mahi”.

“I always try to be the teacher I wish I had when I was young. I break down not only how to write but also show them that becoming a writer isn't magic," Mr Hoey says.

Friday’s workshop is for rangatahi from Wakatipu High School, Mt Aspiring and Cromwell College, who will be invited by their teachers to flex their writing skills in an entirely new way. Saturday’s workshop at the Mountain Club is open to all.

Jennifer Smart, festival trustee and former Head of English at Wakatipu High School, knows how important an opportunity to learn from a real author can be for young creatives.

“Working with someone like Dominic, who has carved his own niche in New Zealand literature, lets them see inside a world that can seem pretty mysterious to young writers,” she says.

“Lots of Year 9s come into high school very excited about writing only to lose the joy of that creative practice as they enter the NCEA years. Socialising and other hobbies start to take precedence. Opportunities like this help them to see themselves as writers again.”

For that reason, Queenstown Writers Festival chose to run a workshop specifically for Year 11 to 13 students outside of the main festival which runs from November 1 to November 3 this year. The festival takes place inside the NCEA exam period and prevents some young writers from participating.

The rangatahi category of last year’s immensely popular writing competition will also run earlier this year to ensure senior high schoolers can participate.

“I love giving people the tools to be able to tell their stories and seeing the excitement when young people start to put their life into words,” Mr Hoey says.

Seeing all kinds of lives represented in words is important to him. Through his small press, Dead Bird Books, he publishes work by talented people from outside the traditional literary community.

“Not that there's anything wrong with the people currently involved, but it's a very limited group.

"I want to read work by poor and working class people, people who didn't go to uni, people with disabilities, people who don't come from the main centres, people who have been to prison. To my mind, that's where all the stories I want to read come from.”

Mr Hoey is also running an open workshop on Saturday, August 10 at the Mountain Club on Beach Street, where all stories are welcome. Local writers can expect a welcoming, highly practical session that explores how to write believable characters and make them sound like real people.

“My style is relaxed and fun, but at the same time I'm very serious about what I'm teaching. I only teach tools I use all the time and break down really simple ways to apply them to your work. So the class is very practical but also welcoming and hopefully not intimidating at all.”

The workshops are made possible by a grant from the Central Lakes Art Support Scheme (CLASS) and the Mountain Club, who are providing the venue for Saturday’s workshop.

Tickets are available for Learn to Write Good with Dominic Hoey here: https://events.humanitix.com/learn-to-write-good-with-dominic-hoey

Mr Hoey will also perform with local poets Bethany Rogers and Julian Noel on Friday, August 9 at The Sherwood from 7pm. Tickets are available here: https://events.humanitix.com/dominic-hoey-poetry-night