Saraid de Silva is a Sri Lankan writer, podcaster and creative from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Her work pulls from her diasporic experiences as a third culture child as well as a

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

woman of colour.

Life & career

de Silva was born in Hamilton in 1991, living in various places in New Zealand, and now based in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. Her mother is Sinhalese Sri Lankan and her father Pākeha. de Silva was raised by her mother and Singaporean born grandmother and attended Catholic schooling in New Zealand. de Silva started an English Literature and Law Degree at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

, completing a year before moving to Auckland for study. She graduated with a Bachelor of Performing & Screen Arts at

Unitec Institute of Technology Unitec ( Māori: Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka) is the largest institute of technology in Auckland, New Zealand. 16,844 students study programmes from certificate to postgraduate degree level (levels 1 to 9) across a range of subjects. The main c ...

in 2012. In 2021 de Silva completed a Masters of Creative Writing at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

. She has worked on various New Zealand television shows, and on ''

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand Prime time, prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital. The show was first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992 and is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, be ...

,'' as a story liner, scriptwriter and script editor. In 2025, de Silva’s novel ''Amma'' was longlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction in the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. ''Amma'' was also longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Plays

Podcasts

In 2019, de Silva and Chinese New Zealand filmmaker and photographer,

Julie Zhu Julie Zhu is a New Zealand documentary filmmaker, podcaster and photographer. She specialises in stories from marginalised communities. She has created both scripted and documentary content for Whakaata Māori, The Spinoff, TVNZ+, and Radio New Z ...

started the

RNZ Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classica ...

podcast, ''Conversations with my Immigrant Parents.'' The podcast video series explores stories of immigrant families across New Zealand, discussing themes such as their connections to home, their ancestry, love, familial expectations, food and racism.

Books

de Silva notes the inspiration for her novel ''Amma,'' came from the grief experiences from losing her Grandmother.

Awards

In 2018 de Silva's play, ''Drowning in Milk,'' received the Social Impact Award at the Auckland Fringe Festival. She also won the Crystal Trust Prize for her debut novel, ''Amma''. In 2025, The Randell Cottage Writers Trust selected de Silva as their Writer-in-Residence for 2025.

References

External links

{{Authority control
These aren't wings
Essay
A Conversation with Saraid de Silva: Anger and it's Uses

5 Questions with Saraid de Silva

There Were Years Before I Knew You by Saraid de Silva
Living people 21st-century New Zealand non-fiction writers 21st-century New Zealand actresses New Zealand podcasters New Zealand people of Sri Lankan descent 1991 births