Mfoniso Udofia awarded 2017-18 McKnight National Residency and Commission

Please help us welcome the 2017-18 McKnight National Residency and Commission recipient Mfoniso Udofia.

Mfoniso is writing a nine-play Ufot Family play cycle, of which Sojourners and Her Portmanteau are running in repertory now at New York Theatre Workshop. Udofia’s commissioned play for the McKnight National Residency and Commission is a new play in the Ufot cycle.

The McKnight National Residency and Commission funds the creation and development of new works and comes with a $15,000 commission, $5,750 in workshop funds, and travel and housing stipends. Past recipients include Kia Corthron, Erik Ehn, Kate Fodor, Karen Hartman, Daniel Alexander Jones, Sibyl Kempson, Craig Lucas, Taylor Mac, Ruth Margraff, Dan O’Brien, Betty Shamieh and Mac Wellman.

More about Mfoniso:

Mfoniso Udofia, a first-generation Nigerian-American storyteller and educator, attended Wellesley College and obtained her M.F.A. in acting from the American Conservatory Theater. Mfoniso’s currently working on completing her projected 9-play Ufot Family play cycle and completing Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Play on! commission translating Shakespeare’s Othello. She’s also the Artistic Director of the NOW AFRICA: Playwrights Festival and a proud member of New Dramatists class of 2023. Mfoniso’s plays have been produced by The New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Realm, Magic Theatre and Dr. Barbara Ann Teer’s National Black Theatre. www.mfonisoudofia.com