Dominic is a Tāmaki Makaurau based poet, author and playwright. 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 2019 he co-founded Dead Bid Books (DBB), a small press publishing writers who sit on the margins of the New Zealand publishing industry. He is also the founder of Learn To Write Good, a creative writing program teaching craft to people who don’t have access to formal education. Since 2017 he’s taught 1000’s of students across New Zealand and overseas. Dominic has over a decade of experience as a youth worker. He is the co-founder of the Atawhai program, working with teenagers to help them with their mental health and self-esteem. He also works with teenagers in the youth justice system, teaching them creative writing to allow them to tell their stories.
Dominic has written and performed two critically acclaimed one-man shows; Your Heart Looks Like a Vagina, a dark comedy about living with Autoimmune disease, and 45 Cents An Hour about the realities of being an artist in Aotearoa. Both plays had sell out runs around New Zealand and were met with glowing reviews.
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.
Dominic was the recipient of 2024 CLNZ Contestable Fund Grant