Pulitzer Prize Winners

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.

For distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life

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