Danijela Hlis was born in Sostanj, Slovenia and has published some bilingual writing. A speaker of English, French and Slovene, she left her native Slovenia for Paris and worked as a translator/interpreter and travelled extensively in Europe. In Australia she completed studies in personnel management and industrial relations, then worked as a human resource manager and trainer.
Hlis' short stories C'mon Mate, Relax and We Don't Share the Same Dreams were awarded second and third prizes for best short stories by the election committee for the literary competition Our Paths conducted during 1983-1984. This was a national competition for Yugoslav migrant writers sponsored by Matica Iseljenica and was later published as a multilingual collection of poems, prose and drama in 1986. She has been a member of the Fellowship of Australian Writers (FAW), Multicultural Writers of Victoria, and Women Writers groups. Her work has been read on ABC radio. In 1992 she resigned from her employment to build seaside chalets in Tasmania for tourists interested in nature.