Maria Samuela was born in Wellington, where she still lives, and is of Cook Islands descent. She’s had stories published in Turbine, Sport 46, Takahe, and adda, and read on National Radio. Her stories have appeared in anthologies Middle Distance: Long Stories of Aotearoa New Zealand and A Game of Two Halves: The Best of Sport 2005–2019. She also writes for children. In 2019, her story ‘Bluey’ was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize. In 2020, a second story was longlisted.