Mo Ogrodnik
Mo Ogrodnik is a filmmaker, writer, and professor in the film department at NYU. She was the associate dean of the arts for NYU in Abu Dhabi and the director of FIND, a creative lab exploring the transnational heritage of the UAE. She’s served as a mentor for the Sundance Labs in Jordan and received fellowships from Yaddo and MacDowell.
This month, Mo Ogrodnik publishes a propulsive, polyphonic novel about life in the Gulf. The story follows five women as they struggle to overcome a patriarchal architecture and rigid class hierarchies. The selection here follows Dounia, transplanted to the ‘dream city’ of Ras-al-Khair and questioning how circumscribed the life of her future offspring might be.