Zina Saro-Wiwa was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria to Ken and Maria Saro-Wiwa. Her late father, the author and poet Ken Saro-Wiwa, became a well-known Nigerian environmental and human rights activist. He was executed in 1995 by the military regime in Nigeria when she was 19. She grew up in Surrey and Sussex in the UK where Saro-Wiwa's wife Maria and five children lived. She attended the private girls school, Roedean, in Sussex, and the University of Bristol where she studied economic and social history.
Saro-Wiwa first wrote for The Sunday Times newspaper at the age of 16 on the subject of Black British identity. She has written for magazines such as Marie Claire, The Telegraph Magazine and the underground music magazine Straight No Chaser.
In 2008 she was commissioned to write an essay about the Nollywood industry, titled No Turning Back for South African photographer, Pieter Hugo's monograph called Nollywood (published by Prestel).
Her short story, Lola of the Red Oil, based loosely on Saro-Wiwa's experiences as a lone teen traveller in Bahia, Brazil, was excerpted in a book for Riflemaker Gallery's 2008 "Voodoo" exhibition.
Saro-Wiwa's short story, His Eyes Were Shining Like a Child, was published by Sable LitMag in 2009.
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