Journalist Gloria Oladipo Receives The Second Annual Edward Medina Prize

New York-based critic and journalist Gloria Oladipo (she/her) received the second annual Edward Medina Prize for Excellence in Cultural Criticism Sunday from The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) at its November 2023 conference in New York.
 
ATCA created this new award to honor their late colleague and recognize United States theater critics and journalists from historically under-represented groups who write about theater and its role in highlighting people from various cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. The prize is also intended to encourage increased readership of cultural criticism composed by diverse writers and critics from under-represented groups.
 
Oladipo, a New York-based journalist and playwright, hails from Chicago and has work that has appeared in Teen Vogue, the Guardian, Bitch Media, and other publications. She was a 2022 National Critics Institute fellow at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, an opportunity she was selected for via the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Institute for Theatre Journalism and Advocacy. Her plays are often Black comedies about Black women that explore themes of caregiving, mental health, and trauma using a mix of realism and absurdism. She is a 2023-2025 Public Theater Emerging Writers Group Fellow, a 2022-2023 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow, and a 2023 Seven Devils Playwrights Conference resident.
 
During Sunday's presentation, Oladipo discussed her approach to theater criticism and journalism, her work as a playwright with the 2022 Medina Prize winner, and journalist Brittani Samuel.  Oladipo stressed that she strives to provide readers with generous inside perspectives into the theater-making process. This, she said, stems in part from her belief in providing access to theater to more diverse audiences. She reflected on how she didn't grow up with such access in her hometown of Chicago until she got involved with an after-school program offered by Steppenwolf Theatre.
 
As part of the Edward Medina Prize, Oladipo received a cash award, a complimentary annual ATCA membership, and a stipend that offset costs to attend the recent 2023 ATCA conference in New York City. The prize was made possible in part by the generosity of Allied Media Projects' Critically Minded project and The Foundation of the American Critics Association.
 
"Gloria Oladipo is an absolutely phenomenal, well-varied journalist and critic, and we are thrilled she has been chosen by our esteemed jury to receive the second annual Edward Medina Prize,” said ATCA Chair David John Chávez. “In the spirit of our beloved friend Ed and his legacy, Gloria has proven to be a luminary in our industry, displaying the necessary tenets of journalism with integrity and skill. On behalf of the American Theatre Critics Association, we bestow our deepest congratulations upon Gloria, and cannot wait to witness her career flourish long into the future."
 
“There's something very affirming to know this prize, in honor of someone who sounds incredible and just so dedicated to making art criticism a better, more inclusive, more thoughtful space, is now something that I'm being recognized for,” Oladipo said.
 
In writing for The Guardian, Oladipo mostly covers breaking news but also writes about arts and culture, namely theater, film, and television.
 
"While news writing really wants you to live in the black and white, I think that arts writing and playwriting are really about the gray," she said. "And I find myself trying to embrace the gray more and advocating to live in the gray as news writers when everyone wants a headline that says X equals Y exclamation point."
 
The judges who reviewed applications included theater, journalism, and communications professionals. They included Mashaun Simon (he/him), marketing and public relations manager at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta; Mirla Criste, performer and professor; Claudia Alick, founder and director of Calling Up Justice; Wei Huan Chen, journalist; Lydia Forte, director and professor of theater at Emory University; Russell Jones III, actor and Ensemble Studio Theatre board member; Alex Meda, director of engagement for the National New Play Network; Yura Sapi, founder of Advancing Arts Forward.
 
ATCA named the prize in honor of Edward Medina, a proud Nuyorican, whose well-established life within the arts and entertainment industry included work as a recognized and award-winning producer, director, and author. Medina was a critic and member of the American Theatre Critics Association and served on the Executive Committee, the Membership, and the Belonging, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion committees until his death in 2021. He emphasized the need for increasing diversity within theatrical production and criticism and sought to provide fresh opportunities and support for new critics finding their calling in this vital field.
 
“For those of us who knew Ed and miss him tremendously, we knew his deep passion about the role of critics of color and making sure the next generation has a voice in this industry,” said ATCA Chair Chávez. “He was a tireless advocate, always looking for ways to make everyone around him better.”
 
Founded in 1974, the American Theatre Critics Association is the only national association of professional theater critics in the United States. ATCA works to foster greater communication among theater critics; provide training and networking opportunities and programs to foster emerging writers; advocate for freedom of expression; maintain ethical standards; respond to the continued evolution of the profession; and increase public awareness of theater criticism as an important national resource. Our members work for newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and online services nationwide.

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