Author Talk: What It Meant to Survive with Mala Kumar

Join us in conversation with author Mala Kuma on their new novel!
About this Event

Join us in discussion with Mala Kumar on their new novel, What It Meant to Survive!

Featuring strong queer female protagonists who must navigate class, race, religion, language, and nationality, Mala Kumar’s What It Meant to Survive is a poignant and heartbreaking commentary on modern-day America and Nigeria.

Ramya and Juliet begin to uplift each other and heal the moment they match on Tinder. For nearly a decade, Ramya, an American of Indian origin from Virginia, has grappled with her survivor’s guilt from a devastating mass shooting that occurred during her last year of university. Halfway around the world in Nigeria, Juliet has survived family tragedies, economic downturns, and an oppressive patriarchy. With a one-chance swipe on their phones in a country foreign to them both, the two women begin a remarkable romantic relationship that most fairy tales wouldn’t dare to depict.

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Mala is a global leader in social impact / technology for social good with deep expertise in UX research and design, open source software, and increasingly, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Throughout her 15+ year career, she has led groundbreaking initiatives that have reached 50,000+ people globally, contributed to the Sustainable Development Goals, and helped companies meet their ESG goals.

Separate from her tech work, she is the author of two novels. Her second novel was published on October 1, 2024. She is also the co-host of the podcast, .