Saraid de Silva

Saraid de Silva is a Sri Lankan writer, podcaster and creative from New Zealand. Her work pulls from her diasporic experiences as a third culture child as well as a queer 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.

de Silva started an English Literature and Law Degree at Victoria University of Wellington, completing a year before moving to Auckland for study. She graduated with a Bachelor of Performing & Screen Arts at Unitec Institute of Technology in 2012. In 2021 de Silva completed a Masters of Creative Writing at the University of Auckland. She has worked on various New Zealand television shows, and on Shortland Street, as a story liner, scriptwriter and script editor. Amma was also longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Plays Year Title Involvement Ref 2013 Stomach Writer, actor 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.