A Conversation with Dominic Hoey & Mark Easterbrook
Within These Walls: Conversations at Shadbolt House
We are delighted to welcome Dominic Hoey to Shadbolt House for an intimate late-afternoon conversation with one of Going West’s best-kept secrets, Mark Easterbrook. Dominic will read from the book he is currently writing, reflect on his work more broadly - including 1985, longlisted for the 2026 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards - and on what it means to write from a working-class perspective in Aotearoa.
Date: Sunday 19 April 2026
Time: 4.30pm – 6.30pm (approx.)
Ticket price: $35 / $30 (students, seniors, unwaged)
Tickets include light canapés and a welcome beverage (wine, beer, or non-alcoholic).
Books will be available for purchase.
This is a small, in-person event. Numbers are strictly limited.
Bookings: Please email tracey@goingwestfest.co.nz
Dominic Hoey is one of Aotearoa’s most compelling contemporary writers, working across fiction, poetry, and performance. His latest novel, 1985, a bestselling portrait of working-class life in 1980s New Zealand, has been longlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. His debut novel, Iceland, was also a New Zealand bestseller and longlisted for the Ockhams, while his short story 1986 won the Sunday Star-Times Short Story Awards in 2021. He is also the author of the poetry collection I Thought We’d Be Famous and the novel Poor People with Money. His writing is widely recognised for its clarity of voice, social insight, and attentiveness to class, place, and the pressures shaping everyday life in Aotearoa.
Mark Easterbrook has been part of Going West and the Shadbolt House project for over decade, including stints as the Going West festival’s Programme Director. A copywriter, creative director and lapsed poet, Mark has a deep love for the many and varied voices and stories of Aotearoa. He lives with his partner and assorted sons and step-sons, beside a creek that (allegedly) marks the border between Langholm and Titirangi.
This series forms part of the Going West Festival’s 30th anniversary celebrations, and marks a moment of arrival for Shadbolt House as it comes into its own as a writers’ residency and literary hub.
Other conversations include Catherine Chidgey with Rosetta Allan (sold out) and Simon Wilson with Paula Penfold, alongside a series of creative masterclasses led by author Dominic Hoey, scriptwriter Gary Henderson, and poet Anne Kennedy. Subscribe to our newsletter to be among the first to hear about upcoming events.
About Shadbolt House
Shadbolt House is the former home of one of Aotearoa’s most celebrated 20th-century writers, Maurice Shadbolt, whose novels and essays played a significant role in New Zealand’s literary culture. Alongside his writing, Shadbolt was an engaged political activist, attentive to questions of power, justice, and national identity.
Now being restored as a writers’ residence and literary hub, the house is becoming a place for writing, conversation, and the exchange of ideas. Within These Walls events range from discussions of creative practice to wider social and political questions, shaped by the belief that literature does not sit apart from the world it describes.
Please note that access to the house is via a short sloped driveway, and there are steps at the entrance. If you have any access requirements or would like to talk this through, please get in touch — we’re very happy to help.