Storylines Children’s Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand | Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki o Aotearoa

Profile

Dahlia Malaeulu

Dahlia is a Samoan New Zealander who is an award winning author, indie publisher and creator of Mila’s Books – Pasifika children’s books that help our tamaiti to be seen, heard and valued as Pasifika.
Since 2019, Dahlia has written children’s stories and is the first Pasifika author to have authored stories that have been published across all schooling levels (pre-school, primary school and high school) while also creating the Mila’s My Aganu‘u Series – the first Pasifika children’s picture books in the world created by an all-Pasifika team. In 2021 she authored Te Papa Tongarewa’s first Samoan bilingual board book, Asiasiga i le falemataaga i Te Papa / Going to Te Papa, which won a Storylines Notable Book Award.
Ultimately, Dahlia is a passionate educator would love to enable tamaiti to confidently and proudly succeed as Pasifika and is driven by sharing the power of our beautiful Pasifika stories with the world. This is why she would love to see endless options of accessible and rich quality Pasifika stories and resources that reflect our Pasifika values, languages, cultures and most importantly, our tamaiti.

Dahlia also facilitates cultural responsive practice workshops in schools and completes literacy and book projects for a variety of schools, organisations and book publishers. Along Dahlia’s Mila’s Books journey she has achieved the following milestones so far:

  • Aotearoa finalist in Samoan Observer Tusitala Short Story Competition (2019)
  • Guest panelist for Read NZ’s Te Pou Muramura Reading Research at NetHui (2019)
  • Guest speaker and presenter at the Ministry of Pacific People’s Lalaga Fou Conference (2019)
  • Part of Read NZ’s Te Pou Muramura’s first virtual Writer’s in Schools programme alongside Pasifika Authors, Selina Tusitala Marsh, Michel Mulipola, Pauline Smith, Leki Bourke Jackson (2020)
  • Author feature in Lady Pasifika Magazine, an annual publication produced in Hawaii (2020)
  • Television interviews with Talanoa with Tupe (2020) and Tagata Pasifika (2021)
  • Wellington Pasifika Woman in Business Award overall winner (2020)
    Authored Te Papa Tongarewa’s first Samoan bilingual board book, Asiasiga i le Falemataaga i Te Papa /Going to Te Papa, which won a New Zealand Storylines Notable Book Award (2021)
  • Activator Speaker for ULearn – New Zealand’s largest online conference for educators (2021)
  • Led and created the first Pasifika story books in the world written, edited, illustrated, designed and published by an all Pasifika team
    First Pasifika author in the world to have stories that have been published across all schooling levels (preschool, primary and high school)
  • Author for the School Journal, Lift Education
  • Author for E-tangata, an online Sunday magazine specialising in stories that reflect the experiences of Māori and Pasifika in Aotearoa
  • Author features and Mila’s Books showcased via social media platforms and newspaper / media outlets such as Radio NZ, Stuff News, Samoan Observer, E-Tangata, Read NZ Te Pou Muramura, The Sapling, The Big Idea, Valley Now, TV1 Sāmoa News, Pacific Media Network, Coconet TV, Tagata Pasifika, Ministry of Pacific Peoples, Pacific Aotearoa and Pasefika Proud
Author-pic-Dahlia-Malaeulu-TPP

Selected bibliography:

  • Losi the Giant Fisherman (Mila’s Books, 2022)
  • Asiasiga ‘i le falemata’aga i Te Papa / Going to Te Papa (Te Papa Press, 2021)
  • Teine Sāmoa (Mila’s Books, 2020)
  • Isaia Says (One Tree House, 2020)
  • Analia Asks (One Tree House, 2020)
  • Sala’s Surprise (One Tree House, 2020)
  • Kuso’s Clean (One Tree House, 2020)
  • Fale Sāmoa (Mila’s Books, 2020)
  • Sva Afi Teine Toa (Mila’s Books, 2020)
  • Tama Sāmoa (Mila’s Books, 2020)
  • Mase’s Room (Little Island Press 2019, Mila’s Books from 2022)
  • Lagi Spies (Little Island Press 2019, Mila’s Books from 2022)
  • Malia Shares (Little Island Press 2019, Mila’s Books from 2022)

Awards:

  • Storylines Notable Book 2021, Asiasiga ‘i le falemata’aga i Te Papa / Going to Te Papa (Te Papa Press)

Other Resources:

Fb: @MilasBooks
IG: @MilasDM
Website: www.milasbooks.com

Sign Up

for Storylines e-news and updates

E-News and Updates