Colson Whitehead wins 2017 Pulitzer Prize for 'Underground Railroad'

Colson Whitehead’s celebrated novel The Underground Railroad has won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The novel is about an escaped slave that combined liberating imagination and brutal reality.
Earlier in November 2016, the novel had received the National Book Award of US. This makes Colson Whitehead first person to win Pulitzer and National Book Award for fiction in last 20 years. 

List of 2017 Pulitzer Prize Winners

Letters, Drama & Music

• Fiction: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.
• Drama: Sweat by Lynn Nottage.
• History: Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy, by Heather Ann Thompson.
• Biography or Autobiography: The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between, by Hisham Matar.
• Poetry: Olio, by Tyehimba Jess (Wave Books)
• General Nonfiction: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond.
• Music: Angel’s Bone, by Du Yun.

Journalism

• Public Service: New York Daily News and ProPublica
• Breaking News Reporting: Staff of East Bay Times, Oakland.
• Investigative Reporting: Eric Eyre of Charleston Gazette-Mail, Charleston/.
• Explanatory Reporting: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, McClatchy and Miami Herald
• Local Reporting: The Salt Lake Tribune Staff
• National Reporting: David A. Fahrenthold of The Washington Post
• International Reporting: The New York Times Staff
• Feature Writing: C. J. Chivers of The New York Times
• Commentary: Peggy Noonan of The Wall Street Journal
• Criticism: Hilton Als of The New Yorker
• Editorial Writing: Art Cullen of The Storm Lake Times, Storm Lake.
• Editorial Cartooning: Jim Morin of Miami Herald
• Breaking News Photography: Daniel Berehulak, freelance photographer
• Feature Photography: Jason Wambsgans of Chicago Tribune

About Pulitzer Prize

• The Pulitzer Prize is an annual award for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States.
• It was established in 1917 by provisions in will of American-Hungarian newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer. The award is administered by Columbia University in New York City.
• Prizes are awarded yearly in 21 categories. In 20 of the categories, each winner receives a certificate and a US$15,000 cash award. The winner in the public service category of the journalism is awarded a gold medal.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2017