All about honouring excellence in journalism and the arts, the Pulitzer Prize annually awards creative works in a variety of categories. Despite a slight delay in announcement due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the board has managed to roll out its list of awardees earlier this month. Here are the six Pulitzer Prize-winning books, sorted according to category. Time to curl up in your nook and delve into these riveting reads.
2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Winner of this year’s fiction category, Colson Whitehead’s latest novel is based on true events surrounding Florida’s Dozier School for Boys. Also a follow-up to his previous book The Underground Railroad that won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, The Nickel Boys is described by the Pulitzer Prize committee as a spare and devastating exploration of abuse at a reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida that is ultimately a powerful tale of human perseverance, dignity and redemption.
2020 Pulitzer Prize for History
Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America by W. Caleb McDaniel
Learn about a woman’s fight for freedom and justice in Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America by W. Caleb McDaniel, as the award-winning historic number depicts the trials and tribulations endured by Henrietta Wood who survived slavery twice and later sued her conspirators in 19th century America.
2020 Pulitzer Prize for Biography
Sontag: Her Life and Work by Benjamin Moser
The authorised biography of American writer, filmmaker, philosopher and activist Susan Sontag, Benjamin Moser’s Sontag: Her Life and Work delves into the life and times of a girl from the suburbs who eventually became a symbol of cosmopolitanism. For having perfectly captured the subject’s genius and humanity, this piece was awarded the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.
2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
The Tradition by Jericho Brown
Filled with poignant pieces that examine how accustomed our society has become to acts of terror, Brown’s newest poetry collection is a page-turner. Not his first award, also check out his previous book of poetry, The New Testament, which won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in 2015.
2020 Pulitzer Prize for General non-fiction
The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America by Greg Grandin and
The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care by Anne Boyer
There are two awardees in this category: The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America by Greg Grandin as well as The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care, by Anne Boyer. The former is an interesting investigation of the meaning of the frontier for America, while the latter is the memoir of acclaimed poet Anne Boyer as she battles cancer.
