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American writer and culture critic
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]
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
^
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" . 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 .
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 .
External links