Merlinda Carullo Bobis is a contemporary Philippine Australian writer and academic. She was born in Legazpi City in the Philippines province of Albay, and attended Bicol University High School then completed her BA at Aquinas University in Legazpi City. She holds post-graduate degrees from the University of St. Thomas and University of Wollongong, and now lives in Australia. She has written in various genres in Filipino and English, and her work integrates elements of the traditional culture of the Philippines with modern immigrant experiences.

Also a dancer and visual artist, Bobis currently teaches at Wollongong University. Her play Rita's Lullaby was the winner of the 1998 Awgie for Best Radio Play and the international Prix Italia; and in 1995, the Ian Reed Radio Drama Prize. In 2000 White Turtle won the Steele Rudd Award for the Best Collection of Australian Short Stories and the 2000 Philippine National Book Award.

White Turtle has been published in USA under the title, The Kissing. Her poetry collections are Rituals: Selected poems, 1985-1990 (1990) and Summer Was a Fast Train without Terminals (1998). Currently, she lectures in creative writing at the University of Wollongong.

Banana Heart Summer, 2006 Gintong Aklat Award (Golden Book Award) Philippines

Summer was a Fast Train without Terminals, 1999 Shortlisted for the Age Book of the Year Award