Danielle Thomson

Danielle Kionasina Dilys Thomson (Samoan, Falealili, Falelatai) is a Samoan/Welsh writer, poet, journalist, kaiako and multidisciplinary artist from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. She currently works as a Student Support and Experience Advisor at the University of Auckland.

Danielle holds a Bachelor of Education (Pasifika Primary Teaching) from Auckland University of Technology, a NZ Diploma in Early Childhood Education, and a Certificate in Gagana Samoa from Manukau Institute of Technology. She has extensive experience in education, working across many age groups in student support and teaching.

Danielle is the founder and director of Tagata Atamai, a social enterprise that aims to amplify the voices of the Moana. Tagata Atamai is a storytelling platform and creative community, sharing Moana stories, promoting Moana writers and artists, and facilitating creative workshops for Moana communities. Danielle was profiled in Rima Magazine: Awa Wahine in 2024 as a result of her work with Tagata Atamai.

Danielle’s writing has been published in Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington’s ‘Salient’, and ‘Bad Apple’, an LGBTQIA+ arts and literature journal dedicated to Aotearoa’s marginalised communities. Earlier this year, she was commissioned by Nevertheless Trust to create a visual art display of her poem ‘Ie Lavalava’ for the Arts and Culture Festival of the 2024 Rainbow Games.

Danielle says of her work that “through art and literature, I aim to facilitate connection, healing, and the preservation of sacred cultural knowledge.”