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Dominic Hoey

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Dominic Hoey
Born1977 (age 46–47)
Occupations
  • Novelist
  • poet
  • rapper
AwardsSunday Star-Times Short Story Award (2021)

Dominic Hoey (born 1977)[1] is an author and musician based in Auckland, New Zealand.[2][3] Much of his writing deals with working class challenges of poverty[4] and illness, including living with a debilitating bone disease.[5][6]

Hoey's first creative outlet was as an MC named Tourettes, performing from the early 2000s across New Zealand and Australia.[7][8] He began working with marginalised youth in 2014, as well as teaching creative writing.[9]

Though he had previously self-released a range of lyrics and stories, his debut novel, Iceland, was released in 2017 by Steele Roberts[10] and was long-listed for the Jann Medlicott Award for Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.[11]

The publishing house Dead Bird Books was created by Hoey and Samuel Walsh in 2018.[12] In speaking about the founding of the publishing group, co-founder Walsh said "we both had experience in publishing records, so we thought, let’s put out books like we’d put out a record and see what happens."[13] The press has released a range of short story collections and poetry and were short-listed for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, for Mohamed Hassan's 2021 National Anthem.[14] Hoey's collection of poems, I Thought We'd Be Famous was released in 2019 with Dead Bird Books.

In 2021, Hoey won the Sunday Star-Times Short Story Awards with "1986". The judge's award described the story as "a sharply observant social commentary on the Grey Lynn neighbourhood in the days before gentrification" and a "power-packed story of dread and sadness, as well as tenderness and retribution."[15]

Hoey's second novel Poor People with Money was published by Penguin in 2022 and was widely acclaimed, with one reviewer saying as "Poor People With Money is so rich and madly entertaining that I'm just going to read it again, immediately, as should you" with the book being described as "the year's most exciting novel"[3] and "a sharp jab from the heart of life on the poverty line in Aotearoa."[16] Steve Braunias described the book as one of the year's best,[17] and, on its exclusion from the Book Awards, one reviewer noted that it was "a terrific novel of pace and tightly controlled chaos, with a unique voice, empathy and humour."[18]

In a 2023 interview, Hoey described the challenges and benefits of his dyslexia. He also discussed his role as a creative writing teacher for students who don't fit the traditional university style.[19] Hoey wrote, "If you’re poor, working class, neurodivergent, disabled or not formally educated, It really feels like you’re not part of the club."[19]

Penguin is slated to release Hoey's next novel, Homesickness, in 2024[19] and he is working on a subsequent novel, called Port.[19]

References

  1. ^ Paul, Mary (18 August 2019). "Always Something There to Remind Me: On Growing Up Amid Neoliberal Reforms". Pantograph Punch. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  2. ^ Dennett, Kelly (25 September 2022). "All the ways Dominic Hoey learned to be a writer". Stuff. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b Hoey, Dominic (31 August 2022). "Self-portrait: Dominic Hoey". Newsroom. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  4. ^ Cronin, Aimee. "When we got into shoplifting we started dressing a lot better: My life in clothes with poet Dominic Hoey". www.metromag.co.nz. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Loading Docs 2017 - #Losing". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  6. ^ "Dominic Hoey: a prisoner in my own body". RNZ. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  7. ^ Jenkin, Lydia (15 May 2014). "Tourettes - a wordsmith in two worlds". NZ Herald. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  8. ^ Shute, Gareth. "Dominic "Tourettes" Hoey - AudioCulture". www.audioculture.co.nz. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  9. ^ Kerr-Lazenby, Mina (2 August 2019). "Meet Dominic Hoey and Tom Scott, the two lyrical wordsmiths making a difference in the music world". Denizen. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Nobody Ever Really Leaves". Landfall. 1 April 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  11. ^ "What life is like as a young struggling creative". RNZ. 7 August 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  12. ^ Hoey, Dominic; Walsh, Samuel (24 February 2021). "The fine art of naming your indie publishing house". The Spinoff. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  13. ^ Geoghegan, Chloe (2 April 2021). "A Scene Is Only As Good As You Make It". Pantograph Punch. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  14. ^ Wong, Alison. "National Anthem by Mohamed Hassan". Academy of New Zealand Literature. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  15. ^ Rasmussen, Warwick (5 December 2021). "Established artist wins prestigious short story competition". Stuff. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  16. ^ Hoey, Dominic (16 August 2022). "'Susan, you big bitch': An excerpt from Poor People With Money by Dominic Hoey". The Spinoff. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  17. ^ Braunias, Steve (15 December 2022). "Xmas: the best fiction of 2022". Newsroom. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  18. ^ Mabey, Claire; Wallace, Louise (2 February 2023). "Behold: The longest Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlist… ever!". The Spinoff. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  19. ^ a b c d Braunias, Steve (11 April 2023). "Dyslexic given 40K to write novel". Newsroom. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
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