Born in Zavidovici, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Karl Kiseli graduated in automative mechanics from the Industrial Technical College in his hometown. He began writing poetry at the age of nine and his first play, 'Slippers', was performed when he was thirteen years old.
Kiseli has written and published in Croatian and English, and explored a variety of literary forms with his work including poetry, drama and two novels. His second novel, Incompatible Destinies (1981), says something of the author's cultural background as it 'unintentionally' makes a poignant comment on 'the lonely life of an unattached male migrant struggling to find his place...in the freedom of the Australian social order'.
Kiseli has been a member of Sydney PEN International's management committee since 1977, representing Australia at the 44th International PEN Congress in Rio de Janeiro in 1979. In 1981, he was one of the four delegates to Paris/Lyon.
During the early 1980s, several of Kiseli's plays were performed in Sydney by the Croatian Drama and Literature Society and the Auburn-Lidcombe Drama and Literary Group.
