Sehba Sarwar in Person

Join us on Tuesday April 8 at 7 PM as Sehba Sarwar, MHC '86, talks about her novel, Black Wings. She will be in conversation with Kavita Ramdas.

About the Book

Spanning two continents, BLACK WINGS is the story of Laila and Yasmeen, a mother and daughter, struggling to meet across the generations, cultures, and secrets that separate them. Their shared grief, as well as the common bond of unhappiness in their marriages, allows them to reconnect after seventeen years of frustration, anger and misunderstandings.

About the Author

Mount Holyoke alumna Sehba Sarwar (’86) is the author of (Black Wings (Veliz Books) and poet and essayist whose work has appeared in Asia: Magazine of Asian Literature, Poetry in
English from Pakistan, Callaloo, New York Times and elsewhere. Her short stories are anthologized in Feminist Press, Akashic Books, and Harper Collins India. While at MHC, Sarwar
was part of the anti-Apartheid movement that succeeded in pushing the trustees to divest funds from South Africa. She is a recipient of multiple artist awards, her papers are archived at the
University of Houston, and she serves as Altadena co-Poet Laureate (2024-26). She was born and raised in an activist home in Karachi, Pakistan.

About Kavita Ramdas

Kavita N. Ramdas is a globally recognized advocate for gender equity and

justice. She is currently a Richard von Weisäcker Fellow of the Bosch

Academy in Berlin, Germany. Her research looks at the adoption of

feminist foreign policy in Germany as well as other European countries and

its impact on domestic politics in Europe as well as engagement with the

rest of the world. Kavita recently completed a term as the Activist in

Residence at the Global Fund for Women and a semester as a visiting

professor at Princeton University’s School of Public and International

Affairs (SPIA). Kavita is a speaker and thought commentator on the

challenges facing philanthropy and civil society as they seek to advance

goals of equitable, sustainable, and gender just development. She

provides high-level consulting advice and guidance on initiatives to defend

democracy and protect human rights both within the US and across the

globe.

In 2023, Kavita served as a senior advisor to an independent assessment

of the United Nations ability to deliver on Gender Equality as part of the

Sustainable Development Goals. During her tenure as Director of the

Women’s Rights Program at the Open Society Foundations, the foundation

made its largest ever investment in gender justice with a $100 million

commitment to the Generation Equality Forum in July 2021. She is the

former President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women and has served

as Senior Advisor on Global Strategy to Darren Walker, President of the

Ford Foundation, and was the foundation’s Representative in its South Asia

office in Delhi, India. Kavita is the Principal of KNR Sisters, a consulting

venture to support social justice movements and philanthropy.