Join best selling novelist, Dominic Hoey as he takes you through a creative writing workshop on character creation and writing dialogue. Using exercises and examples, Dominic will illustrate how to come up with believable characters and get them speaking like real people. The class will be relaxed, with a focus on learning tools to help bring your prose to life.

Thanks to Central Lakes Trust for making this event possible through the Central Lakes Art Support Scheme (CLASS), and to Mountain Club who are providing the venue for Saturday's workshop.

About Dominic

Dominic Hoey is a poet, author and playwright based in Auckland, New Zealand.

His two novels, Iceland and Poor People With Money were New Zealand bestsellers. Iceland was long-listed for the 2018 Ockham Book Award. He’s released four successful poetry collections, including I Thought We’d Be Famous and most recently The Dead Are Always Laughing at Us.

In 2021 his short story, 1986, won the Sunday Star times Short Story competition.

In 2019 he co-founded Dead Bird Books (DBB), a small press publishing writers who sit on the margins of the New Zealand publishing industry. To date DBB has published 13 books, two of which were shortlisted for an Ockham. They have become a mainstay of the New Zealand independent publishing industry.

In a former life, Dominic released four rap albums and was an MC battle and slam-poetry champion. He’s performed his poetry in Australia, Europe, England, Japan, Canada and America.

He is currently working on his third novel, 1985, due out on Penguin in March 2025.

About The Queenstown Writers Festival

Dominic's event is hosted by Queenstown Writers Festival. The main festival runs from 1 - 3 November 2024 at Te Atamira. Authors, poets, illustrators and journalists from across Aotearoa will feature in a dynamic programme of events that celebrates storytelling in all its forms. Follow us on social media to learn about our upcoming events.