Soraya Nadia McDonald is an American writer and culture critic. She was previously a reporter at ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', and has been the culture critic for '' The Undefeated'' since 2016. McDonald was a finalist for the 2020

Pulitzer Prize for Criticism The Pulitzer Prize for Criticism has been presented since 1970 to a newspaper writer in the United States who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism'. Recipients of the award are chosen by an independent board and officially administered by C ...

Life and career

McDonald was raised in North Carolina. Her father is African American and her mother is a

Sephardic Jew Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

, born in Suriname and raised in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. McDonald received her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

, during which she interned for the high school sports desk at ''

''. She returned to the ''Post'' after graduation as a staff reporter and left in January 2016 to work as the senior culture writer for '' The Undefeated''. McDonald's writing covers pop culture, sports, race, gender, and sexuality. 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 ''The Handmaid's Tale'' is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood and published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which ...

'', and the racial anxiety of ''

BlackAF ''#blackAF'' is an American sitcom created by Kenya Barris. It premiered on Netflix on April 17, 2020. The title derives from Internet slang, where " AF" is a term of emphasis, meaning " as fuck". In June 2020, the series was renewed for a se ...

''. McDonald often critiques the nature of American theater's engagement with the topic of race and has written about shows such as ''

Choir Boy ''Choir Boy'' is a coming-of-age play by American playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney. The play premiered in September 2012 at the Royal Court Theatre, London, before going on to play productions at New York City Center, Alliance Theatre, Geffe ...

'', ''White Noise'', and ''

Slave Play ''Slave Play'' is a three-act play by Jeremy O. Harris about race, sex, power relations, trauma, and interracial relationships.Lapacazo Sandoval, Contributing Writer. Slave Play' by Jeremy O. Harris a Real Look at Racism in America —Opening o ...

''. On May 4, 2020, she was named a finalist for the 2020

. 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. McDonald is also a commentator on current events such as the implications of racial disparities in

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

cases. Her work has appeared in and been cited in books and journalistic outlets such as

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, '' Vox'', and ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

''. In 2020, she contributed a chapter to the volume ''Believe Me'' edited by

Jessica Valenti Jessica Valenti (; born November 1, 1978) is an American feminist writer. She was the co-founder of the blog Feministing, which she wrote for from 2004 to 2011. Valenti is the author of five books: ''Full Frontal Feminism'' (2007), ''He's a Stud, ...

and Jaclyn Friedman.

Awards and honors

* 2020 - George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism, Winner * 2020 -

Vernon Jarrett Vernon Daurice Jarrett (born Daurice Vernon Jarrett; June 19, 1918Jarrett's year of birth according to the 1920 United States Census, U.S. Social Security Death Index, and the U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index is 1918. Conflicting ...

Medal, Runner up,

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known a ...

* 2020 -

, Finalist

References

External links

Biography
on The Undefeated
Soraya Nadia McDonald
on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

Soraya Nadia McDonald
on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Soraya Nadia 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American women writers African-American Jews African-American journalists African-American women journalists African-American women writers American people of Surinamese descent American critics ESPN people Howard University alumni Jewish American writers Jewish women writers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) The Washington Post journalists Women sportswriters Writers from North Carolina Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American Sephardic Jews