The 2022 Pulitzer Prize winners in journalism, books, drama and music were announced by Columbia University. The most prestigious awards in America, not just for journalists, but historians, poets, playwrights, non-fiction writers, composers and novelists, the Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher.
Administered by Columbia University, it is an award for achievements in all the literary genres within the United States.
According to the New York Times, the full list of winners and finalists are as below:
FEATURE WRITING
Jennifer Senior of The Atlantic.
Senior’s portrait of a family’s reckoning with loss in the two decades since the September 11 terror attacks won for “masterfully braiding the author’s personal connection to the story with sensitive reporting that reveals the long reach of grief.”
Finalists Anand Gopal, contributing writer for The New Yorker; Meribah Knight of WPLN and Ken Armstrong of ProPublica
COMMENTARY
Melinda Henneberger of the Kansas City Star
For “persuasive columns demanding justice” for those who accused a retired police detective of being a sexual predator.
Finalists Julian Aguon The Atlantic and Zeynep Tufekci.
CRITICISM
Salamishah Tillet, contributing critic at large, the New York Times.
For “learned and stylish writing about black stories in art and popular culture.”Read the essays here.
Finalists Peter Schjeldahl of The New Yorker and Sophie Gilbert of The Atlantic
EDITORIAL WRITING
Lisa Falkenberg, Michael Lindenberger, Joe Holley and Luis Carrasco of the Houston Chronicle
The editorials revealed voter suppression tactics and rejected the myth of widespread voter fraud, the committee said.
Finalists Abdallah Fayyad of The Boston Globe and editorial staff of The Times-Picayune, | The New Orleans Advocate.
ILLUSTRATED REPORTING AND COMMENTARY
Fahmida Azim, Anthony Del Col, Josh Adams and Walt Hickey of Insider.
The winning work used graphic reporting and the comic’s medium to tell a story of the Chinese oppression of Uyghurs.
Finalists Zoe Si, contributor at The New Yorker and Ann Telnaes of The Washington Post
PHOTOGRAPHY
Win McNamee, Drew Angerer, Spencer Platt, Samuel Corum and Jon
Cherry of Getty Images and Marcus Yam of the Los Angeles Times
This year’s breaking news photography category had two winners.
The Getty team won for images of the attack on the U.S. capitol, and Marcus Yam for “raw and urgent images of the U.S. departure from Afghanistan.”
Finalist Anonymous, freelance contributor for The New York Times.
FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY
Adnan Abidi, Sanna Irshad Mattoo, Amit Dave and Danish Siddiqui of Reuters.
For images of Covid-19’s toll in India that “balanced intimacy and devastation.” It is also noteworthy to mention that all these four winners are Indian photographers.
Finalist’s photography staff of Reuters and Gabrielle Lurie of The San Francisco Chronicle.
AUDIO REPORTING
Staff of Futuro Media and PRX
For “Suave,” a seven-episode podcast that profiled a man re-entering society after serving more than 30 years in prison.
Finalists Eyder Peralta, Solomon Fisseha, Alsanosi Adam and Halima Athumani of NPR; Mike Hixenbaugh, Antonia Hylton, Frannie Kelley, Reid Cherlin and Julie Shapiro of NBC News.
SPECIAL CITATIONS AND AWARDS
The journalists of Ukraine
For their “courage, endurance and commitment to truthful reporting during Vladimir Putin’s ruthless invasion of their country.”
FICTION
‘The Netanyahus,’ by Joshua Cohen
Cohen’s book imagines a college job interview in the 1950s for Benzion Netanyahu, academic and father of the future Israeli Prime Minister.
The novel explores themes of Jewishness and Diaspora as Netanyahu’s fatalistic view of Jewish history bumps up against that of the narrator, an assimilated American Jewish professor.
Finalists “Monkey Boy,” by Francisco Goldman and “Palmares,” by Gayl Jones
HISTORY
‘Covered With Night,’ by Nicole Eustace, and ‘Cuba: An American History,’ by Ada Ferrer.
Eustace’s book, a finalist for the National Book Award, explores how the 1722 killing of an Indigenous hunter profoundly influenced the American justice system.
Spanning more than 500 years, Ferrer’s account traces Cuba’s colonial history, revolutions and cultural shifts, with a focus on its relationship with the United States.
Finalist “Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, From the Revolution to Reconstruction,” by Kate Masur.
BIOGRAPHY
‘Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South,’ by Winfred Rembert, as told to Erin I. Kelly
This memoir, which was told to a Tufts University philosopher, blends Rembert’s life story with his artwork. In images and in Rembert’s own words before he died in March last year, the narrative recounts his life in the Jim Crow-era Deep South, his close escape from an attempted lynching in Georgia, his time in prison working on chain gangs and his late-in-life discovery of his artistic talent.
Finalists “Pessoa: A Biography,” by Richard Zenith; “The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women — and Women to Medicine,” by Janice P. Nimura.
POETRY
‘Frank Sonnets,’ by Diane Seuss.
Seuss has described this collection, her fifth, as a memoir composed of sonnets, with poems that touch on death, birth, loss and addiction.
The collection also won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN/Voelcker Award.
Finalists “Refractive Africa: Ballet of the Forgotten,” by Will Alexander and “Yellow Rain,” by Mai Der Vang
GENERAL NONFICTION
‘Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City,’ by Andrea Elliott.
Elliott’s intimately reported book expands on her acclaimed 2013 series for The Times about Dasani Coates, a homeless New York schoolgirl, and her family. In addition to a portrait of the family, it’s about a city and country that have repeatedly failed to address the issues of poverty and addiction.
Finalists “Home, Land, Security: Deradicalisation and the Journey Back From Extremism,” by Carla Power and “The Family Roe: An American Story,” by Joshua Prager.
DRAMA
‘Fat Ham,’ by James Ijames.
A comedic riff on “Hamlet,” set at a barbecue, this play is about a Black, gay, Southern man whose father’s ghost urges him to avenge his death. The Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia streamed a virtual production last year; the first in-person production is set to begin previews at the Public Theater in New York on Thursday.
Finalists “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord,” by Kristina Wong and “Selling Kabul,” by Sylvia Khoury
MUSIC
‘Voiceless Mass,’ by Raven Chacon
This site-specific work, for organ and ensemble, was commissioned for the group Present Music’s Thanksgiving concert in Milwaukee. Chacon, a member of the Navajo Nation, has said he makes a point not to present his art on that holiday but made an exception. The piece, however, was fitting for the occasion, and the church in which it premiered. It is an exploration of gathering spaces, their history and the land they occupy. It considers, Chacon wrote, “the futility of giving voice to the voiceless, when ceding space is never an option for those in power.”
Finalists “Seven Pillars,” by Andy Akiho and “with eyes the colour of time,” by Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti As mentioned at the beginning the prizes were announced from the Columbia University, and in his introduction, John Daniszewski, the AP’s Vice President and Editor at Large for standards and co-chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board, talked about the impact of the journalism behind the 2022 winners.
Commenting on the winning journalistic writings, Daniszewski said: “These stories sometimes right injustice, sometimes they illuminate a deeper context of the local communities in which we live. Sometimes they surprise and entertain.” But what the journalism has “in common is that it was done ethically and seriously, and in its enterprise has paid a part in keeping our democracies vibrant.”
In this way, this year’s winning works will soon be highlighted on the bookshops and bookstalls around the world which is a great thing for readers.
Compiled by Ravindra Wijewardhane