Sehba Sarwar is a thought-provoking author and speaker, an inspirational artist, and a dynamic community and cultural activist who is dedicated to pushing boundaries and encouraging awareness and action among people of all ages and backgrounds.
Writer, Artist, Writing Coach, Workshop Leader, and Community Activist
BLOG
I use this channel to document my movement between spaces including Houston, Karachi, Delhi, Dhaka, Los Angeles and elsewhere, recording observations, images and conversations. It’s my space to share the multiple realities I inhabit as writer, artist, mother, activist and transnational. I hope you will enjoy the journey along with me.
my narration of azeb’s story appears in NYT magazine…
on 11 Jun, 2016
Since I met Azeb in October 2015, I have enjoyed her ability to share stories and make us laugh. Last fall, we sat over several delicious meals at Lucy’s Ethiopian Restaurant as...
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i am karachi wall project…
on 10 Feb, 2016
Two images from a wall created by VASL, a Karachi-based arts collective, for a project called I Am Karachi. The project’s Walls for Peace initiative aims to replace “negative and politically charged...
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karachi literature festival…
on 06 Feb, 2016
Borderlines panel – participants from left to right: moderator Ghazi Salahuddin, Sehba Sarwar, Noor Zaheer, Naila Mahmood, and Tehmina Ahmed; photo by Akbar Baloch Back in 2010, I participated in the first...
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Spring 2019
"Railway Track," a murder story to be published in Houston Noir anthology, edited by Gwendolyn Zepeda, Akashic Books, New York.
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May 2018
Offered talk and reading at California Lutheran University's English Department banquet, Thousand Oaks, CA.
April 2018
Read excerpts from my essays "That Long Monday Afternoon" and "Invisible Lines" in VBB's Borderlines publications with Pakistan Arts Council at USC's Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA.
March 2018
Talk “Borderlines: Telling South Asian and US-Mexico Border Histories through Art and Performance," University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA.
February 2018
Poetry and essay readings at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Festiba 2018, Edinburg, TX.
February 2018
Roundtable speaker for Poets & Writers (west), South Pasadena Public Library, South Pasadena, CA.
February 2018
"On Belonging" performance and site-specific installation, Menil Collection campus, Houston, TX.
PUBLICATIONS
Over the past three decades, I have generated essays, poems and short-stories that have appeared in anthologies, newspapers and online publications. Much of my work explores cross-border experiences, moving between Pakistan, the US, and the spaces in between, tackling women’s issues, displacement and migration.
Sehba Sarwar with students at Baker-Ripley Community Center (Houston); photo: Michelle Garcia
COURSES AND WORKSHOPS
Since the 1990’s, I have given talks and readings and have served as visiting writer and adjunct faculty member at colleges and universities around the United States and Pakistan. I am currently identifying new course topics and am interested in developing these for upcoming sessions. Review some of my past workshops.
PROJECTS
Though I am primarily known as a writer and educator, I have generated a large body of solo and collaborative art installations that tackle many issues including women’s reproductive rights and border/migration disputes. Browse through some of my work.
CONTACT
I am an author and speaker, an artist, and a community and cultural activist.
If I can use my talents and passions to inspire you or your network to push boundaries and become involved in our communities, please connect with me. I am open to schedule readings, workshops, courses or multimedia installations; my On Belonging performance and installation is available for touring.
