There is no glitz or glimmer to the awarding of the Pulitzer Prizes. No red carpets. There are no designer dresses and tuxedos. No long acceptance speeches that are cut short by orchestra music. While the Pulitzer Prizes are certainly prestigious and significant, they are not known for their lavish presentations or celebrity appeal. The focus remains on recognizing the work of journalists, writers, and composers.
Yesterday's announcement honored some talented writers and their incredible books. Here are the finalists and winners in the book categories:
Fiction
Winner:
- James by Percival Everett
Percival Everett skillfully reinterprets Huckleberry Finn empowering Jim to demonstrate the absurdity of racial supremacy and offer a fresh perspective on the pursuit of family and independence.
Finalists:
- Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
- Mice 1961 by Stacey Levine
- The Unicorn Woman Gayl Jones
History
Winners:
- Combee: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom During the Civil War by Edda L. Fields-Black
Combee is a richly textured and revelatory account of a slave rebellion that brought 756 enslaved people to freedom in a single day, weaving military strategy and family history with the transition from bondage to freedom. - Native Nations: A Millennium in North America by Kathleen DuVal
The book paints a panoramic portrait of Native American nations and communities over a thousand years, providing a vivid and accessible account of their endurance, ingenuity, and achievement in the face of conflict and dispossession.
Finalist:
- Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery, by Seth Rockman
Biography/Autobiography
Winner:
- Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life by Jason Roberts
A beautifully written double biography of Carl Linnaeus and Georges-Louis de Buffon, 18th-century contemporaries who devoted their lives to identifying and describing nature’s secrets and who continue to influence how we understand the world.
Finalists:
- John Lewis: A Life by David Greenberg
- The World She Edited: Katherine S. White at The New Yorker by Amy Reading
Memoir or Autobiography
Winner:
- Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir by Tessa Hulls
An affecting work of literary art and discovery whose illustrations bring to life three generations of Chinese women—the author, her mother and grandmother, and the experience of trauma handed down with family histories.
Finalists:
- Fi: A Memoir of My Son by Alexandra Fuller
- I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition by Lucy Sante
I'm a little embarrassed to say that I've read only two of the above: James and I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition. Both are beautifully written and well worth your reading time.
I've always used the Pulitzer Prize winners and finalists as a benchmark for my TBR lists. As I looked back on the fiction category-winning books from the past 25 years, I realized that there are only 5 of them that I have not read. They move up on my TBR list today!
Of the ones I have read, these are my 10-star picks. Maybe add them to your list.
Pulitzer Prize Fiction Winners - RWW 10-Star Reads
Thank you, Joseph Pulitzer, and congratulations, Percival Everett and James! You so deserved this honor.
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