Colson Whitehead Wins the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction
On the 101st year of the prize
The 2017 Pulitzer Prizes were announced today by Pulitzer Prize Administrator Mike Pride in the World Room at Columbia University. The announcement began with a sly dig at the Oscars: “Just making sure I have the right envelope,” Pride deadpanned. On the subject of nonfiction, he said: “The work that wins Pulitzer prizes reminds us that we are not in a period of decline in journalism; rather we are in the midst of a revolution.” Then he went on to announce the 2017 winners in 21 categories. The winners in Arts & Letters are below—see the full list of winners and finalists here:
The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead (Fiction)
Finalists: Imagine Me Gone, Adam Haslett and The Sport of Kings, C. E. Morgan
Sweat, Lynn Nottage (Drama)
Finalists: A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, Taylor Mac and The Wolves, Sarah DeLappe
Blood in the Water: the Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy, Heather Ann Thompson (History)
Finalists: Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It, Larrie D. Ferreiro, New England Bound: Slavery and Colonization in Early America, Wendy Warren
The Return, Hisham Matar (Biography or Autobiography)
Finalists: In the Darkroom, Susan Faludi and When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi
Olio, Tyehimba Jess (Poetry)
Finalists: Collected Poems: 1950-2012, Adrienne Rich and XX, Campbell McGrath
Evicted, Matthew Desmond (General Nonfiction)
Finalists: In a Different Key: The Story of Autism, John Donvan and Caren Zucker and The Politics of Mourning: Death and Honor in Arlington National Cemetery, Micki McElya
