Nukila Amal was born in Ternate, North Maluku, in 1971. Reading books was encouraged in her family, and she credits some of her writing genes to her father, a judge who wrote law articles and later became a historian who wrote books on the history of North Maluku. She studied at the Bandung Tourism College, and worked in the hotel and financial sectors before taking up writing in 1997. Her favorite authors include James Joyce, Pirandello, and Umberto Eco. Her novel Cala Ibi (“hummingbird” in Bahasa Ternate) grew out of her random journal scribbles. Her second publication is a collection of short stories, many of which were inspired by the works and life of the Dutch graphic artist, M.E. Escher.