I grew up in two distinct worlds. In the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut, my mother and stepfather taught art and music to the privileged students of private boarding schools. In western Maryland’s Appalachian foothills, my father and stepmother owned and operated restaurants together. Two teachers and two chefs. Two parents who valued education above all; two committed to the value of hard work at least as much as each other. Both sets of parents working class, all artists in various disciplines, all living and working in surprisingly reflective worlds despite their differences.
While my own life and work has reflected each of those poles at one time or another, it’s the intersections that exist between that most inform my writing. Intersections of class and geography, privilege and poverty, parents and children, family and legacy: in exploring these often difficult spaces, I seek better understanding of my own experience and the influences that inform it. In sharing that exploration, I hope readers will find resonance leading to understanding of their own.
Dominic Bucca (he/him) has earned a living in just about every position one might occupy in food service, from culinary educator to dishwasher to sommelier. He’s also been a carpenter’s helper, a graphic designer, a bottle-and-can-redemption-center-sorter, an advertising salesperson, a professional student, an admissions counselor, a landscaper, an oenological consultant, and a writer for readers of all ages. He is a two-time graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts, where his picture book manuscript, Hurry, Scurry, Hermit Crab!, won the 2022 Candlewick Award. Dominic lives in coastal New Brunswick with his spouse, writer, artist, and educator Kate Bucca, and two calico cats named Chaos and Complexity, also known as the Critter Sisters and sometimes the Theory of Cats, and SOMETIMES the Conspiracy Theory of Cats. Together (and under the guidance of Chaos and Complexity), Dominic and Kate recently opened an independent bookstore—Bucca dell’Acqua: Books, Art, & Other Necessities—on Water Street in St. Andrews by the Sea.
