Omar Mouallem

In addition to founding Pandemic University School of Writing, Omar Mouallem is an author, journalist, editor and filmmaker. He’s contributed stories to The Guardian, WIRED, and NewYorker.com and received three National Magazine Awards and other honours. Several of his articles have been adapted into books and movies, including How Muslims Shaped the Americas, which was named one of the Globe and Mail’s 100 best books of 2021. He also wrote and directed The Lebanese Burger Mafia, which won the Audience Choice Award at the 2023 Northwest International Documentary Festival. Omar lives in Edmonton, where he’s editor-in-chief of EDify, the city’s premier art and culture magazine.