Founded 2026 . Issue 01 . Filed from the Gulf
Masthead.
The people whose names go on the door. Also some who do not, but should.
Souk Weekly is a small magazine with a small payroll and a long memory. We launched in 2026 on the unfashionable bet that the Gulf could sustain a weekly that read like an actual weekly: written by people, edited by people, occasionally annoying its own publishers. Below is the staff list we are willing to publish under our own names.
Some of our writers use pen-names; this is a magazine convention with a long pedigree and we are not embarrassed about it. The byline reflects the writer's role and beat. The actual person behind it is on payroll and accountable to the editor in the usual way. Pen-names are listed below without ceremony.
The staff
On the masthead.
Anika PatelTrade and commerce reporter. Former supply-chain consultant who left the deck-building business to write about what actually moves through ports, warehouses, and customs queues.
Diego ArroyoOpinion editor. Former speechwriter who switched sides of the podium; essays on institutions, work, and what the next decade demands of both.
Lena HollowaySenior Editor covering politics and world affairs. Twenty years on foreign desks, the last eight of them watching the Gulf's quiet rooms rather than its press conferences.
Marcus OkaforMarkets reporter. Learned pricing in his aunt's Lagos FX bureau before any trading floor, and still trusts the cash flow over the narrative.
Mira FarajCovers public services and the operating systems of daily life: the forms, queues, portals, and fee schedules where policy actually meets people.
Priya ChenTechnology correspondent. Ex-infrastructure engineer who writes about AI and semiconductors by asking the unglamorous question: what does this cost to run?
Rafael MendezEnergy and trade correspondent. Grew up around ships and still covers the world the way cargo sees it: as routes, contracts, and the price of moving anything anywhere.
Sara QureshiSpecial contributor. Former radio producer who profiles the people building the next economy, and waits out every rehearsed answer.
Theresa BauerBusiness operations columnist. Recovering operations director who writes about unit economics, procurement, and why most business advice fails at the spreadsheet.
A founding note
Souk Weekly exists because nobody else was making the magazine we wanted to read on a Saturday morning. So we made it. It is independent. It is paid for by readers and by our own appetite for the work. We do not let advertisers see the page before it goes to press. We do not run native ads dressed as features. When we are wrong, we say so.
We answer to readers. The rest of the editorial-page furniture lives in our standards, ethics, and corrections pages. They are short and worth a glance.
Souk Weekly is also, gently, a sister publication to Meridian, the straight-faced daily. Different magazine, different jokes, same neighbourhood.
Contact
Reach the newsroom via the contact page, or email editor@souk-weekly.web.app directly.