What To Read

Tertulia's First Dibs Editors Salon series is an exclusive look at a few of the most exciting books coming out each season. Join us for the Spring edition of this virtual salon on March 26 at 7:00pm ET for what promises to be a great conversation about books by the editors who helped to shape and publish them.

➳ March 26 at 7:00 pm ET on Zoom Purchase tickets to the First Dibs Editors Salon Note: Are you an active Tertulia member? If so, you'll get free tickets AND have the opportunity to request an advance copy of one of the featured books. Make sure to use this special promo code in your email to RSVP or contact us at hello@tertulia.com to register.

One of our selections for this salon is Gulf, the debut novel by director and film professor, Mo Ogrodnik. The novel tracks the lives of five women from different backgrounds and origins whose lives collide in the Arabian gulf. "GULF is instantly gripping: a hurtling, sensory plunge into the lives of women in crisis whose worlds come to overlap in unexpected ways," said novelist Jennifer Egan about the book. "Mo Ogrodnik is a gifted, arresting newcomer to the literary landscape."

We are honored to have the book's acquiring editor, Judy Clain (Senior Vice President and Publisher, Summit Books) join us at the salon on March 26 to talk about the book.

I met Mo Ogrodnik many years ago when she made a film called Ripe, and then lost touch with her. Years went by, and we found each other again. I knew Mo as a filmmaker and then as a film professor at New York University. I knew that she had gone to Abu Dhabi to launch a Global NYU campus, but I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. Her view of the world was always political, but deeply informed by story. She’s a storyteller!

When I first read the pages of Gulf I was still at Little, Brown and immediately knew that I had to publish the novel. When I left Little, Brown to relaunch Summit Books, Mo chose to follow me. This was a great joy, because it would have been a tough book to leave behind. I was working on the novel with Jocasta Hamilton, a wonderful Editor at the John Murray imprint, with whom I share other authors.

The novel is quite astounding. Reading the pages, you are immediately transported to the Gulf region, bearing intimate witness to the captivating—and often frightening interconnected journeys of five brave fictional women from all over the world. Who knew that this filmmaker and film professor from Tisch (NYU's school of the arts) was secretly a novelist all along? Mo’s scenes are brilliantly cinematic and expertly crafted.

Now, a year into my new venture as publisher of Simon & Schuster’s newly relaunched Summit Books, I am thrilled that we are finally just weeks away from the publication of Gulf. I can’t wait for readers to discover this mysterious place and these powerful female characters whose stories, based on Mo’s extensive research and time spent living in Abu Dhabi, will assuredly stay with readers for years to come.

— Judy Clain (Senior Vice President and Publisher, Summit Books)