Octavia Nasr
Octavia Nasr (Arabic: اوكتافيا نصر) is a journalist, lecturer and expert on Middle East affairs. She serves as CNN’s Senior Editor of Arab affairs. She’s the recipient of many prestigious awards including: Edward R. Murrow for Continuing Coverage: CNN, Coverage of the Middle East Conflict; the 2006 Golden Cedar Award for Excellence in Journalism from the Lebanese-American Chamber of Commerce as well as CNN World Report’s Achievement Award. Nasr was born (1966) in Beirut, Lebanon. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Lebanese American University (LAU). She has started her graduate studies in Middle Eastern affairs at Georgia State University (GSU), in Atlanta, Georgia. She’s fluent in Arabic, French and English.
Early life
Octavia Nasr studied in Beirut between 1968 and 1978; primary and middle school at the Soeurs Des Saints Coeurs in the city in Hadath, Beirut. She completed her High school studies at the College Des Peres Antonins in Baabda, Lebanon. During that time she was very active in the school’s drama club and Scouts. She performed along with the Groupe Antonin Theatral major plays at schools across Lebanon as well as at L’ecole Des Letter under the patronnage of the French Mission in Lebanon. Some of those plays are “Huis Clos” by Jean-Paul Sartre, “Antigone” by Jean Anouilh and Les Deux Timides by Eugène Labiche. Throughout her High school years, she also wrote short plays and poems. During her university studies Nasr wrote a full play, directed The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice and No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre. She played several roles in many student productions such as the role of Mother Ubu in the melodramatic satire “King Ubu,” and grandma in The American Dream by Edward Albee. She taught drama to primary and middle school students in various schools. She also managed her old theatrical group and produced Waiting for Godot (in English) by Samuel Beckett and Les Bijoux de la Castafiore (in French) by Hergé, among other plays. Her students performed those plays as she did before at schools across Lebanon and captured the attention of many local newspapers.
Career
Currently she serves as the Senior Editor for Arab affairs across all of CNN’s platforms. In this capcity she appears on CNN shows to discuss breaking news in the Middle East and how they pertain to the US and the world. She also provides guidance off air and is involved in CNN’s coverage of Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. Her weekly segment “Arab Voices” on cnn.com offers viewers an in-depth look at what the Arab world and its media are focusing on and what angles they’re taking in covering stories. Her blogs on the same issues appear regularly on ac360.com
Personal life
Nasr is married and has two girls. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.