"One of the things I love about poetry is that it cuts to the guts of what matters. It enables me to write about the otherwise 'unspeakable', give language to things that are too complicated, painful or difficult to say using prose."
KARLO MILA
Poet Karlo Mila was born in Rotorua and grew up in the Highbury neighbourhood of Palmerston North.
She wrote her first poem in Standard Three (Year 5) at Highbury School (now Somerset School) and has been writing ever since. Her love of poetry was encouraged at Awatapu College where one of her English teachers was the author Linda Burgess.
She earned Bachelor of Arts (1995) Massey University, then spent some time in Tonga followed by 10 years in Auckland. She came back to Palmerston North to finish her PhD in sociology. Of Tongan, Samoan and Pakeha descent, her poetry is both personal and political and reflects ‘issues of the Pacific diaspora and navigating the tensions between traditional cultures and urban Aotearoa-Pacific realities.’ The landscape and people of Palmerston North feature in her work.
Her book Dream Fish Floating won the 2006 New Zealand Society of Authors Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards. On winning the award, the judges commented: With her roots in Pakeha New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga, Karlo Mila writes with flair, energy and passion, creating a direct, accessible poetry. This multi-cultural, lyrical voice is one the judges expect to hear a lot more of.”
Karlo’s work has also been included in anthologies and collaborations, Short Fuse: The Global Anthology of New Fusion Poetry (2002), Whetu Moana: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English (2003), Best New Zealand Poems (2003, 2005 and 2006) and Niu Voices (2006), Kaupapa: New Zealand Poets, World Issues (2007), Earth's Deep Breathing: Garden Poems by New Zealand Poets (2007), Just Another Fantastic Anthology: Auckland in Poetry (2008), Landfall (2009), Our Own Kind: 100 New Zealand Poems About Animals (2009), Mauri Ola: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English: Whetu Moana II (2010), 99 Ways into New Zealand Poetry (2010) and The Best of Best New Zealand Poems (2011).
In 2008, she collaborated with artist Delicia Sampero on A Well Written Body, a book of painting and poetry.
