In the latter years of the 19th century, Joseph Pulitzer stood out as the very embodiment of American journalism. Hungarian-born, an intensely indomitable figure, Pulitzer was the most skillful of newspaper publishers; a passionate crusader and a visionary.
When writing his will he made provision for the establishment of the Pulitzer Prizes as an incentive to excellence. Originally four awards in journalism, four in books and drama, one for education, and five travelling scholarships, Pulitzer made provision for changes to the awards since their 1917 inception. Now 23 awards with the introduction of poetry, music, photography, memoir and audio journalism as subjects, while adhering to the spirit of the founder's will and its intent.
For 2023, for the Books, Drama and Music Category the following titles have been awarded:
Fiction Winners:
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
A masterful recasting of “David Copperfield,” narrated by an Appalachian boy whose wise, unwavering voice relates his encounters with poverty, addiction, institutional failures and moral collapse–and his efforts to conquer them.
Trust by Hernan Diaz
A LoveReading Star Book this riveting novel set in a bygone America that explores family, wealth and ambition through linked narratives rendered in different literary styles, a complex examination of love and power in a country where capitalism is king.
Drama Winner:
English by Sanaz Toossi
A quietly powerful play about four Iranian adults preparing for an English language exam in a storefront school near Tehran, where family separations and travel restrictions drive them to learn a new language that may alter their identities and also represent a new life.
History Winner:
Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power by Jefferson Cowie
A resonant account of an Alabama county in the 19th and 20th centuries shaped by settler colonialism and slavery, a portrait that illustrates the evolution of white supremacy by drawing powerful connections between anti-government and racist ideologies.
Biography Winner:
G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage
A deeply researched and nuanced look at one of the most polarizing figures in U.S. history that depicts the longtime FBI director in all his complexity, with monumental achievements and crippling flaws.
Memoir or Autobiography Winner:
Stay True by Hua Hsu
An elegant and poignant coming of age account that considers intense, youthful friendships but also random violence that can suddenly and permanently alter the presumed logic of our personal narratives.
Poetry Winner:
Then the War: And Selected Poems 2007-2020 by Carl Phillips
A masterful collection that chronicles American culture as the country struggles to make sense of its politics, of life in the wake of a pandemic, and of our place in a changing global community.
General Non-Fiction Winner:
His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa
An intimate, riveting portrait of an ordinary man whose fatal encounter with police officers in 2020 sparked an international movement for social change, but whose humanity and complicated personal story were unknown. (Moved by the Board from the Biography category.)
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