Sayed Kashua was born in Tira in the Triangle region of Israel to parents of Palestinian descent. In 1990, he was accepted to a prestigious boarding school in Jerusalem - Israel Arts and Science Academy. He studied sociology and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Kashua was a resident of Beit Safafa before moving to a Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem with his wife and children.

 

Kashua has accepted teaching positions in Chicago, Illinois, moving there with his wife and three children for the 2014/15 academic year. He will participate in the Creative Writing program's bilingualism workshop at the University of Chicago and is a visiting scholar in the Israel Studies program at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. His Haaretz column of July 4, titled "Why Sayed Kashua is leaving Jerusalem and never coming back: Everything people had told him since he was a teenager is coming true. Jewish-Arab co-existence has failed." , was published at a volatile time in the country's intergroup relations, involving the kidnapping/murders of Jewish students in the West Bank and an Arab youth in East Jerusalem, though prior to the July 8 outbreak of the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. His declaration elicited numerous responses in the Israeli press from colleagues and readers who were concerned by the issues he raises.

In 2004, Kashua won the Prime Minister's prize for literature.

Arab Labor won the Award for Best Television Series at the Jerusalem Film Festival.

Kashua won the 2011 Bernstein Prize for his novel Second Person Singular.