Kōrero
Violence, Justice and Ghosts: Saraid de Silva x Gowri Koneswaran

“Revenge, hair, ghosts, signs and omens, inheritance, the sun; sharp or dissolved, the double, the unsayable, the outward landscape manifest in the body, beauty, heat, fervour, betrayal, the material of memory” — marginalia scrawled by one journalist in Saraid de Silva’s debut novel, Amma, which follows three generations of South Asian women who reject, who regret, who brawl and search for love in the worlds they have inherited.

From Aotearoa, she joins writer, performing artist and lawyer Gowri Koneswaran to discuss grief, rage, and writing across Sri Lanka’s diaspora.

Born in Kirikiriroa Hamilton, Saraid de Silva (she/her) is a Sri Lankan/Pākehā writer and arts worker based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. In 2024 Saraid’s debut novel Amma was released in Aotearoa, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Saraid has formerly worked as a journalist, producing three seasons of the podcast and documentary series Conversations With My Immigrant Parents for Radio New Zealand, and currently works as a TV writer.

Gowri Koneswaran is a queer Eelam Tamil writer, performing artist, and lawyer. Her work has appeared in Adi Magazine, Journal of Asian American Studies, Environmental Health Perspectives, Lantern Review, The Margins, and elsewhere. Her advocacy has addressed the rights of prisoners and the criminally accused in the U.S., factory farming's environmental impacts, and justice and accountability in Sri Lanka. She is Literary Arts Programs Director at Split This Rock, a copy editor for The Abolitionist Newspaper, and a researcher and editor with PEARL (People for Equality and Relief in Lanka).