Soraya Nadia McDonald

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
  • Journalist
  • critic
NationalityAmerican
EducationHoward University
Subjects
  • Culture
  • race
  • gender
  • sexuality
Notable awardsGeorge Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism (2020)

Life and career

McDonald 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

References
  1. "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.
  2. "2020 Pulitzer Prize Winners & Finalists". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  3. "Episode 13: A candid conversation with Washington Post reporter Soraya McDonald - Behind the Prose". Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  4. 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.
  5. "The intersection of race, sports and culture: Kevin Merida and The Undefeated". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  6. 2006 - Howard University Commencement Program - website Digital Howard @ Howard University
  7. 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.
  8. Ibrahim, Shamira (April 26, 2020). "What Kenya Barris Doesn't Understand About '#BlackAF'". The Atlantic. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  9. "Online cultural critic wins 2019-20 Nathan Award". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  10. Seymour, Lee. "Why The Pulitzer Win For 'A Strange Loop' Is Historic—On Multiple Levels". Forbes. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  11. "Soraya Nadia McDonald Reads Her Essay 'Wandering in Search of Wakanda'". Literary Hub. February 2, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  12. "Racial Disparities Emerge During Epidemics — Like The 1918 Flu". NPR.org. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  13. VanDerWerff, Emily Todd (December 31, 2019). "Culture in the 2010s was obsessed with finding community — and building walls". Vox. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  14. "TV Critics Give Their Under-The-Radar Picks". NPR.org. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  15. Hall, Chloe; Webb, Alysha (November 29, 2017). "What Meghan Markle's Royal Engagement Means to 16 Black Women". ELLE. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  16. Valenti, Jessica; Friedman, Jaclyn (February 5, 2019). Believe Me. ISBN 9781580058797.
  17. 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.
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