Karlo Mila is of Tongan/Palangi descent. Born in New Zealand in 1974, she grew up in Palmerston North and now lives in Auckland. Karlo has a MSW (Applied) in Social Work but credits the development of her writing to taking a creative writing class taught by Albert Wendt. She has been writing poetry since she was nine. Karlo's poems have been published in a number of anthologies including: Pacific Anthology (Coffee and Coconuts ); Short Fuse: Global Anthology of New Fusion Poetry; Whetu Moana edited by Albert Wendt; Creative NZ collection First Draft;