The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature, and musical
composition. It was established in 1917 by provisions
in the will of American (Hungarian-born) publisher Joseph Pulitzer, and is administered by Columbia
University in New York City. Prizes are awarded yearly in
twenty-one categories.
Awarded
to "The Orphan Master's Son" by Adam Johnson (Random House), an exquisitely crafted
novel that carries the reader on an adventuresome journey into the depths of
totalitarian North Korea and into the most intimate spaces of the human heart.
Fiction Finalists:
"What
We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank," by Nathan Englander
"The
Snow Child," by Eowyn Ivey
For a distinguished and appropriately documented book
on the history of the United States
Awarded
to "Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's
Vietnam," by Fredrik Logevall (Random House), a balanced, deeply
researched history of how, as French colonial rule faltered, a succession of
American leaders moved step by step down a road toward full-blown war.
History Finalists:
"The
Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America: The Conflict of
Civilizations, 1600-1675,” byBernard
Bailyn
"Lincoln’s
Code: The Laws of War in American History," by John Fabian Witt
For a distinguished and appropriately documented
biography or autobiography by an American author
Awarded
to "The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of
Monte Cristo," byTom Reiss (Crown), a compelling story of a
forgotten swashbuckling hero of mixed race whose bold exploits were captured by
his son, Alexander Dumas, in famous 19th century novels.
Biography Finalists:
"Portrait
of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece," by Michael Gorra
"The Portrait
of a Lady;" and "The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent
Times of Joseph P. Kennedy," byDavid Nasaw
For a distinguished volume of original verse by an
American author
Awarded
to "Stag's Leap," by Sharon Olds (Alfred A. Knopf), a book of
unflinching poems on the author’s divorce that examine love, sorrow and the
limits of self-knowledge.
Poetry Finalists:
"Collected
Poems," by the late Jack Gilbert
"The
Abundance of Nothing," by Bruce Weigl
For a distinguished and appropriately documented book
of nonfiction by an American author that is not eligible for consideration in
any other category
Awarded
to "Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the
Dawn of a New America," by Gilbert King (Harper), a richly detailed chronicle
of racial injustice in the Florida town of Groveland in 1949, involving four
black men falsely accused of rape and drawing a civil rights crusader, and
eventual Supreme Court justice, into the legal battle.
Nonfiction Finalists:
"Behind
the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity," by Katherine Boo
"The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in
Nature," by David George Haskel
