Events

2023- 2024

UPCOMING

June 21, 2024; 6:30 pm
COLA Artists Fellows Showcase
Grand Performance
Los Angeles, CA

RECENT

May 4-5, 2024
Embodied Landscapes: Water, Wildlife, and the Geographies that Shape Us
with Erika Ayon, Olga García Echeverría, Jamie Asaye FitzGerald,  Alicia Vogl Saenz
Lit Fest in the Dena
Mountain View Mausoleum
Altadena, CA

February 8, 2024
AWP Panel: Poets Against Walls: An Anthology/Handbook for Writing Past the Checkpoints
with César L. de León, Celina Gomez, Emmy Pérez, and Carolina Monsivais
Kansas City Convention Center
Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP)
Kansas City, MO

December 2, 2023; 6:30 pm
Writers for Palestine
Reading & Fundraiser for Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Venice Beach, Los Angeles, CA

October 20, 2023
Rise of World Literature
Panel with Gemini Wahhaj, Zarlasht Niaz, Kartika Budhwar
Annual Conference on South Asia
Madison, WI

2022- 2023

Sep 11, 2022
To Aid & Abet
Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Venice Beach, CA

Nov 19, 2022
With(out) Borders: Reading and panel
Southern California Poetry Festival
Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Venice Beach, CA

February 8, 2023
WeHo Reads: Mindful Journeys Toward Better Futures
A reading alongside LA-based writers
West Hollywood Library, West Hollywood, CA 90069

March 9, 2023
AWP-off site at Seattle Public Library
with Veliz Books, Noemi Press, BOA Editions
Seattle, WA

April 26, 2023
Open Book: Conversation with Sabaa Tahir
Pasadena Literary Alliance
Pasadena, CA

May 7, 2023
Reclaiming Witches & Monstrous Women
A reading with Jamie Asaye FitzGerald, Olga Garcia Echeverría, Tanya Ko Hong, and Alicia Vogl Saenz
LitFest in the Dena
Altadena, CA

May 13, 2023
Long Beach Festival of AAPI Books – FAB
Billie Jean King Main Library
200 W. Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90802

June 7, 2023
Publication Party
Writers’ Program at UCLA Extension
Los Angeles, CA

2021- 2022

May 14, 2022
4:35 -5:35 pm PT / in person

LitFest Pasadena
Vroman’s Courtyard, 695 E. Colorado Bl
Pasadena, CA

May 4, 2022
6:00 pm PT / virtual
WeHo Reads: Explorations Beyond Borders
with Lisbeth Coiman, Myriam J. A. Chancy, Teresa Mei Chuc
West Hollywood, CA

March 30, 2022
6:00 – 7:30 pm CT / in-person
Moderating a conversation with Dr. Sima Samar on The Future of Women’s Rights in Afghanistan
The Baker Institute
Rice University,
6100 Main St, Houston, TX

Mar 27, 2022
2:00 pm PT / in-person
Moderating reading and conversation with Sana Balagamwala & Sarah Ali
An Afternoon of Tea, Poetry & Prose
hosted by Pakistan Arts Council
Irvine, CA

Mar 25, 2022
10:35 – 11:35 am ET / virtual
AWP panel: Transnational Writers Speak: Borders, Identity, Solidarity
with Torsa Ghosal, Sorayya Khan, Myriam Chancy, and Fan Wu
Philadelphia, PA

Mar 19, 2022
6:00 pm ET / virtual
SMOL Fair, SMOL Reading
Pre-AWP

March 12, 2022
Noon – 1:30 pm PT / virtual
Leading conversation with WP Now members:
Online Literary Readings and Connections for Writers in the Digital Age
UCLA Extension’s Writers’ Program
Los Angeles, CA

Oct 8, 2021
6 – 10 pm PT / in person
ArtNight Pasadena

On Belonging, a site-specific art installation
community responses to home & the pandemic
@ Victory Park (2575 Paloma St)
Available for viewing till Oct 23, 2021
Cosponsored by Armory Center for the Arts and funded in part by Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission and the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division
Pasadena, CA

Aug 14, 2020
4 pm PT / virtual

Veliz Books Turns 5!
A celebration with Veliz Books
El Paso, TX

2020-21

Jun 29, 2021
5:00 pm PT / virtual
How would you like me now?
Virtual reading and conversation with artist Mel Chin
Armory Center for the Arts
Pasadena, CA

Jun 9, 2021
6:00 pm PT / virtual
27th Annual Publication Party; Zoom
UCLA Extension Writers’ Program
Los Angeles, CA

Apr 6, 2021; 3:00 pm PT / virtual
Festival of the Arts
with Devi Laskar; hosted by Torsa Ghosal
Cal State, Sacramento
View recording here

Mar 20, 2021; 11:00 am PT / virtual
It’s Been a Year
with Come As You Are (CAYA) writers Alicia Vogl Saenz and Jamie Asaye Lahey FitzGerald
Online reading to mark the lockdown anniversary of the first wave of COVID-19
Los Angeles, CA

Mar 7, 2021
3 pm CT / virtual
AWP panel: Making Place in Hybrid Tongues
with Torsa Ghosal, Sorayya Khan, Minerva Laveaga, and Nadia Misir
Kansas City, KS

Mar 3, 2021
10 am CT / virtual

AWP panel: Mangoes or Pizza: Battling Self-Censorship to Write/Right the Self
Kansas City, KS

Jan 21, 2021; 6 pm PT / virtual
Curated and read at South Asian Writers Resist
with Tanzila “Taz” Ahmed, Neelanjana Banerjee, Torsa Ghosal, Arshia Haq, Sorayya Khan, Mahmud Rahman, Shreerekha Subramanian
Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Watch on Youtube
Venice, CA

Dec 17, 2020; 9 am PT / 5 pm GMT / virtual
Memory versus Truth
IGTV Conversation with Ali Zaidi
Watch on Youtube

Oct 23, 2020, 6 pm CT / virtual
¡Ya Basta!: Futures Without Walls / Enough! Futuros Sin Muros
Marathon Poetry Reading
Poets Against Walls
Rio-Grande Valley, TX

Sep 12, 2020; 1 pm PT / virtual
Pasajes/Passages
Armory Center for the Arts
Pasadena, CA

Spring 2020

VIRTUAL READINGS

April 26, 2020, 1 pm PST
Poetry and Cookies
Altadena Public Library,  CA

May 14, 2020
celebration of ACCOLADES
Women Who Submit, Los Angeles, CA

June 25, 2020, 7:00 pm
YOU DOWN FOR THE CAUSE OR WHAT? Writers of color discuss allyship
Watch on YouTube
Public Library-Exposition Park
Los Angeles, CA

IN-PERSON READINGS

February 1, 2 pm 
Progress Party
UCLA Writers’ Program
1010 Westwood Boulevard, Room 409
Los Angeles, CA 90024

February 8, 11 am
Creating Space and Courage for Writing
Womxns Write Inn
Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library
5870 Atlantic Ave
Long Beach, CA 90805

March 10, 2020, 10:30–11:45 am
Visiting Writer
Creveling Lounge, Pasadena City College
Pasadena, CA

WITHDREW PARTICIPATION
(travel concerns)

March 5, 2020, 10:35 am
AWP panel: Making Place in Hybrid Tongues
San Antonio, TX

March 5, 2020, 4:00 pm
ACCOLADES release party
Women Who Submit
La Botanica
San Antonio, TX

March 6, 2020, 5:30 pm
Veliz Books, AWP off-site reading
Menger Hotel
San Antonio, TX

March 6, 2020, 7:30 pm
The River Runs Through Us
Movement Gallery
San Antonio, TX

CANCELLED EVENTS

April 4, 2020
San Antonio Book Festival
San Antonio, TX

April 6, 2020
Conversation with USC’s Urban Planning graduate students
Los Angeles, CA

April 22, 2020
Festival of the Arts

Cal State University-Sacramento, CA

April 26, 2020
La Palabra
Avenue 50 Studio
Highland Park
Los Angeles, CA

May 9, 2020
Más Puentes y Menos Muros / More Bridges and Less Walls

Student exhibition & performance
Armory
Pasadena, CA

May 16-17, 2020
Ban the Walls / / panel & reading
LitFest Pasadena
Pasadena, CA

Fall 2019

September 6, 2019, 7 pm
Poetry reading, LIKE HOME:
poetry in response to displacement
Avenue 50 Studio
Los Angeles, CA

September 8, 2019, 2 pm
Houston Noir reading
Sisters In Crime-LA
South Pasadena Library
South Pasadena, CA

September 10, 2019, 12:15 pm
Black Wings reading and signing
Hampton Room,
Scripps College
Claremont, CA

September 12, 2019, 7:30 pm
The WCCW Reading Series: Work & Labor
Women’s Center for Creative Work
Los Angeles, CA

September 16 – 27, 2019
On Belonging installation
Black Wings reading & discussion 
Humanities Institute, Scripps College
Claremont, CA

October 1, 2019, 7:30 pm
The New/Old Show
Tuesday Night Project
alongside FandangObon, Taz Ahmed, Ginto Seeds, Kid In the Middle
Los Angeles, CA

October 6, 2019, 2 pm
LitCrawl LA
With Womxn Write Inn
Los Angeles, CA

October 13, 2019, 4 pm
Roar Shack presents
“Third Wind”
curated by David Rocklin
Los Angeles, CA

October 17, 2019, 5:30 pm
Black Wings reading alongside Fan Wu
and liz gonzález
San Francisco Public Library
San Francisco, CA

October 19, 2019, 6:30 pm
LitCrawl SF
with Womxn Write Inn
San Francisco, CA

October 21, 2019, 4 pm
Black Wings reading;
Q&A with Parama Roy
University of California-Davis
Sacramento,  CA

October 26, 2019, noon & 4:00 pm
Texas Book Festival
12 pm: Panel featuring Houston Noir
4 pm: 
Panel featuring Black Wings
Austin, TX

October 26, 2019, 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Story Mixer
LitCrawl Austin

Empire Control Room
Austin, TX

November 2 & 3, 2019, 2:00 – 5:00 pm
Multi-genre Inprint Intensive Workshop
Inprint, Inc
Houston, TX

November 5, 2019, Noon – 2 pm
Women Writers Unite
Reading and panel discussion
Cal State-San Bernardino
San Bernardino, CA

Spring 2019

March 3, 2019
Curated and co-hosted “Poetry for Peace,” an artistic response to rising violence in Kashmir, India
Pasadena Central Library
Pasadena, CA

March 6, 2019
Black Wings Pre-launch reading
Caltech University
Pasadena, CA

March 28, 2019
Black Wings pre-launch reading
Women Who Submit, Nucleus Portland
Portland, OR

March 29, 2019
Black Wings Book Launch alongside writers Mohamed Asem, Corinne Manning & Ramzy Farouki
Studio Faro Gallery
Portland, OR

March 29, 2019
An evening of poetry and prose with Macondistas
Portland State University
Portland, OR

March 31, 2019
Black Wings reading; conversation with Alka Kurian
Elliott Bay Book Company, co-sponsored by Tasveer
Seattle, WA

April 2, 2019
Black Wings reading alongside Nilofar Shidmehr
Burnaby Neighbourhood House
Vancouver, Canada

April 24, 2019
Featured writer at Rio Hondo College’s annual Rites of Spring Literary Festival
Rio Hondo College
Whittier, CA

May 18 & 19, 2019
LitFest Pasadena with Olga Garcia, Angelina Sáenz, Tanya Ko Hong & Veronica Reyes in a session entitled Lenguas Revoltosas: Writers of Color Disrupting Traditional Literary Zones; also in a panel that tackles “toxic masculinity,”
Pasadena, CA

May 26, 2019
Black Wings reading alongside liz gonzález
Gatsby Books
Long Beach, CA

August 4, 2019
A reading with Why There Are Words-LA:  “A Radical Interpretation of Survival in Literature” with  David Ulin, Rachel Howzell Hall, Arminé Iknadossian, Carla Sameth, and Aatif Rashid
Los Angeles, CA

August 9, 2019
East Meets West: a reading with many LA-based writers; curated by Tanya Ko Hong
Beyond Baroque
Venice Beach, CA

August 25, 2019
celebrate our words / /  BAN THE WALLS
A reading celebrating Black Wings
with Lisbeth Coiman, Jamie Asaye Fitzgerald, Lucy Rodriguez-Hanley, and Alicia Vogl Saenz and high school students Sofia Barrios and Minal Saldivar, as well as surprise guests including Lynn Harris Ballen, Diya Bose, Manuela Traude Gomez and Elline Lipkin
Pasadena Central Library
Pasadena, CA

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 offer a range of services including: readings, workshops, courses, or multidisciplinary performances/installations. I look forward to hearing from you!

Sehba Sarwar Art Car
Front hood of my art car, Digital Meets Pakistani Truck Art, featuring stickers of buraq images from Karachi; photo by Burnell McCray