Soraya Nadia McDonald is an American writer and culture critic. She was previously a reporter at The Washington Post, and has been the culture critic for The Undefeated since 2016. McDonald was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.[1][2]
Soraya Nadia McDonald | |
|---|---|
| Occupation |
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| Education | Howard University (BA) |
| Subjects |
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| Notable awards | George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism (2020) |
Life and career
editMcDonald was raised in North Carolina.[3] Her father is African American and her mother is a Sephardic Jew, born in Suriname and raised in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.[4] McDonald received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Howard University,[5][6] during which she interned for the high school sports desk at The Washington Post. She returned to the Post after graduation as a staff reporter[3] and left in January 2016 to work as the senior culture writer for The Undefeated.[5]
McDonald's writing covers pop culture, sports, race, gender, and sexuality.[1] She frequently focuses her criticism on the intersection of art and race and has written on topics such as the weaknesses of a post-racial Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale,[7] and the racial anxiety of BlackAF.[8] McDonald often critiques the nature of American theater's engagement with the topic of race[9] and has written about shows such as Choir Boy, White Noise, and Slave Play.[10] On May 4, 2020, she was named a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.[2] McDonald appeared on the podcast Storybound in 2021 to read one of the essays that earned her nomination, Wandering In Search of Wakanda, with music sampled from Marco Pavé.[11]
McDonald is also a commentator on current events such as the implications of racial disparities in COVID-19 cases.[12] Her work has appeared in and been cited in books and journalistic outlets such as NPR, Vox, and Elle.[13][14][15]
In 2020, she contributed a chapter to the volume Believe Me edited by Jessica Valenti and Jaclyn Friedman.[16]
Awards and honors
edit- 2020 - George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism, Winner[17]
- 2020 - Vernon Jarrett Medal, Runner up, Morgan State University[1]
- 2020 - Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, Finalist[2]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Vernon Jarrett Medal to be Presented to New York Times Reporter For Her Work in Coverage Of Hate Crime, Race, and Identity". Morgan State University Newsroom. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- ^ a b c "2020 Pulitzer Prize Winners & Finalists". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
- ^ a b "Episode 13: A candid conversation with Washington Post reporter Soraya McDonald - Behind the Prose". April 13, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- ^ McDonald, Soraya Nadia (July 17, 2020). "I'm a Jew of color. I won't be quiet about anti-Semitism". Andscape. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
- ^ a b "The intersection of race, sports and culture: Kevin Merida and The Undefeated". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- ^ 2006 - Howard University Commencement Program - website Digital Howard @ Howard University
- ^ Bastién, Angelica Jade (June 14, 2017). "In Its First Season, The Handmaid's Tale Greatest Failing Is How It Handles Race". Vulture. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- ^ Ibrahim, Shamira (April 26, 2020). "What Kenya Barris Doesn't Understand About '#BlackAF'". The Atlantic. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- ^ "Online cultural critic wins 2019-20 Nathan Award". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- ^ Seymour, Lee. "Why The Pulitzer Win For 'A Strange Loop' Is Historic—On Multiple Levels". Forbes. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
- ^ "Soraya Nadia McDonald Reads Her Essay 'Wandering in Search of Wakanda'". Literary Hub. February 2, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
- ^ "Racial Disparities Emerge During Epidemics — Like The 1918 Flu". NPR.org. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
- ^ VanDerWerff, Emily Todd (December 31, 2019). "Culture in the 2010s was obsessed with finding community — and building walls". Vox. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- ^ "TV Critics Give Their Under-The-Radar Picks". NPR.org. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- ^ Hall, Chloe; Webb, Alysha (November 29, 2017). "What Meghan Markle's Royal Engagement Means to 16 Black Women". ELLE. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- ^ Valenti, Jessica; Friedman, Jaclyn (February 5, 2019). Believe Me. Basic Books. ISBN 9781580058797.
- ^ BWW News Desk. "Soraya Nadia McDonald is This Year's Winner of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved January 29, 2020.