Washington Post names O’Grady its Cairo bureau chief

Since joining The Post in 2018, Siobhán has demonstrated a knack for bringing characters to life, even against daunting obstacles. She has delivered memorable work from everywhere she has traveled: from Central Africa, reporting on a divide between English- and French-speakers that threatens to tear Cameroon apart; from Afghanistan, during three fill-in tours, reporting on the race to preserve a remarkable film archive from the country’s pre-Taliban past; and from Lebanon, where she told the story of last summer’s devastating explosion through the eyes of a baker who “owes his life to the humble manousheh,” the irresistible Levantine flatbread. As a newsroom-based staff writer in Foreign, Siobhán has excelled in a breaking-news mission that prioritizes quick-turn explainers and other stories that fill gaps in our overseas coverage. Since February, from Washington and Hong Kong, she has been a pillar of our round-the-clock coronavirus coverage.

She is a graduate of Dickinson College and studied abroad in Morocco and Cameroon. Siobhán began her career at Foreign Policy, then spent 18 months freelancing across Africa from Nigeria, Togo, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana and elsewhere for the Los Angeles Times, the Atlantic and other news outlets. She speaks fluent French and elementary Arabic.