Daren Kamali is a Wallis & Futuna native, who was raised in Fiji and became a renown fijian writer. He holds ten years of experience as a Creative Arts Youth Mentor, and has been engaged with the creative arts for over fifteen years. In 2004, he served as the New Zealand delegate for the Festival of Pacific Arts in Palau, and again in Solomon Islands in 2012. He is the co-founder of the South Auckland Poets Collective (2008), in cooperation with his partner Grace Taylor.
Daren Kamali is a Pacific poet, writer, musician, and teacher. He has emerged on the Pacific writing scene as a Fijian writer, placing Fiji at the heart of much of his creative work. His most recent publication is entitled, Tales, Poems, and Songs from the Underwater World (2011). Kamali was the recipient of the 2012 Fulbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writers' Residency, which he completed at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa in Honolulu, Hawai'i. He used the time to continue work on his second book, Squid Out of Water (Ala Press 2014). In 2013, Kamali launched the company Niu Navigations, with his partner Grace Taylor. The company promotes poetry in New Zealand. He has put up a poetic theater show called Vuni Maqo (Mango Tree), in 2013.
He has a tendency to work across genres and languages, creating a unique blend of beats and lyrics. As a native speaker of Fijian, Kamali works with metaphors, imagery, and rhythm of the Fijian, English, and Māori languages.