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Pulitzer Prize (American Award)
The Pulitzer Prize is the most prestigious award in American journalism, literature, and the arts — a recognition so coveted that a single word on a book cover or a news headline can define a career. Pronounced PUUL-it-sər (rhymes with “pull”), the prize was established by the will of Hungarian-American newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer and has been administered by Columbia University in New York City every year since 1917. What began as a handful of awards in journalism and drama has grown into 23 annual prizes spanning fiction, poetry, general nonfiction, music, plays, biography, history, and memoir — making it the broadest honor of its kind in the United States.
The prize takes its name from a man who embodied American ambition. Pulitzer arrived in the United States from Hungary at seventeen with no money and no English. He went on to own two of the country’s most powerful newspapers — the New York World and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch — and before his death in 1911, he left two million dollars to Columbia University to reward excellence in his chosen profession. That gift created not only the prizes but the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism itself.
Today the Pulitzer Prize touches nearly every corner of American letters. It has honored novelists and Pulitzer Prize poets, composers and playwrights, investigative reporters and nonfiction authors. The New York Times alone has won more than 140 prizes. This article covers the full history of the Pulitzer Prize, how it is pronounced, what each category recognizes — from Pulitzer Prize fiction and general nonfiction to the Pulitzer Prize for music and drama — how winners and finalists are selected, and the facts that make this award unlike any other in the world.
| Full Name | The Pulitzer Prizes |
| Established | June 4, 1917 |
| Founded By | Joseph Pulitzer (April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) |
| Administered By | Columbia University, New York City, United States |
| Type | Annual American Award — Journalism, Literature, Drama, Music |
| Total Categories | 23 annual prizes |
| Journalism Categories | 15 prizes |
| Books, Drama and Music Categories | 8 prizes |
| Prize Amount | $15,000 per winner (certificate included) |
| Public Service Award | Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal (silver plated in 24-karat gold; awarded to news organizations only) |
| Fiction Category | Formerly called “Novel Prize” (1917–1947); renamed Fiction in 1948 |
| Music Category Established | 1943 |
| Poetry Category Established | 1922 |
| General Nonfiction Established | 1962 |
| Memoir or Autobiography Established | 2023 |
| Pronunciation | PUUL-it-sər (“Pull it, sir”) — /ˈpʊlɪtsər/ |
| Finalists Named | 3 per category (publicly announced since 1980 for book categories) |
| Announcement | Each spring; ceremony held at Columbia University’s Low Library, New York City |
| Most Prizes Won | The New York Times (148 prizes as of 2026) |
| Official Website | pulitzer.org |
What is the Pulitzer Prize?
The Pulitzer Prize is a set of 23 prestigious annual awards administered by Columbia University in New York City, recognizing outstanding achievement in American journalism, literature, drama, music, and the arts. Established by the will of Hungarian-American newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, the prizes have been awarded every year since 1917.
What Is the Pulitzer Prize and How Did It Begin?
The Pulitzer Prize is a set of 23 annual awards administered by Columbia University in New York City, recognizing outstanding achievement in American journalism, literature, drama, and music. It is widely considered the most authoritative honor in American letters and press — a distinction earned not by any single ceremony but by more than a century of uninterrupted recognition.
The Founder: Joseph Pulitzer
The prize takes its name from Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-American newspaper publisher born on April 10, 1847, in Makó, Hungary. He arrived in the United States at seventeen with little money and no command of English. Over the following decades, he built two of America’s most influential newspapers — the New York World and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch — and became one of the defining figures in the history of American journalism.
According to the official biography published on pulitzer.org, Pulitzer drafted his will in 1904 with a specific vision: to use his fortune to reward excellence in journalism and the literary arts. He died on October 29, 1911, aboard his yacht in Charleston, South Carolina, before seeing that vision become reality.
How the Prizes Were Established
Pulitzer left two million dollars to Columbia University — a bequest that funded both the prizes and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, which opened in 1912. The first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded on June 4, 1917, by the Columbia University School of Journalism. The original will specified four awards in journalism, four in books and drama, one in education, and several traveling scholarships.
Since then, the Pulitzer Prize Board — which administers the prizes independently at Columbia — has expanded the program considerably. Poetry was added in 1922. Music followed in 1943. General Nonfiction came in 1962. Most recently, a standalone Memoir or Autobiography category was introduced in 2023. The total currently stands at 23 categories across journalism, books, drama, and music.
Who Administers the Prize Today?
Columbia University administers the Pulitzer Prizes through an independent Pulitzer Prize Board. The Board reviews nominations submitted by expert juries — approximately 80 jurors participate across all categories each year. Winners are announced each spring. A formal ceremony is held at Columbia’s Low Library in New York City, where recipients collect their certificates and, in most categories, a cash prize of $15,000.
The one exception is the Public Service award in journalism, which carries no cash prize. Instead, the winning news organization receives the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal — technically a silver medal plated in 24-karat gold — the most coveted recognition in American journalism.
How Is the Pulitzer Prize Pronounced?
The correct pronunciation of Pulitzer is PUUL-it-sər — the first syllable rhymes with the verb “pull,” not “pyool.” This is one of the most commonly misread names in American cultural life, and the confusion is understandable. The spelling suggests one sound; the correct pronunciation delivers another.
According to the administrators of the prize at pulitzer.org, the simplest way to get it right is to say the phrase “Pull it, sir” aloud. The three words, spoken naturally, produce the correct pronunciation almost exactly. In standard phonetic notation, the name is written as /ˈpʊlɪtsər/ — with a short “u” sound at the front, a soft middle syllable, and an unstressed ending.
The Name Comes From Its Founder
The most common error is “PYOO-litzer” — placing a long “u” sound at the start, as if the name followed the same pattern as words like “pure” or “fuel.” It does not. The name is Germanic and Hungarian in origin, not Latin or French, which is why the vowel behaves differently from what English speakers might expect.
The prize is named after Joseph Pulitzer, the Hungarian-American newspaper publisher who established the awards through his 1904 will. Pulitzer was born in Makó, Hungary, and his original surname followed Hungarian phonetic rules — in which the “u” carries a short, rounded sound closer to the English “pull” than to “pure.” When he emigrated to the United States and anglicized his name, that pronunciation largely carried over.
So the award and the man share the same sound: PUUL-it-sər. Not “PYOO-litzer.” Not “PUL-it-zer” with equal stress across all syllables. One smooth, three-syllable word — stress on the first, quiet on the rest.
Pulitzer Prize Categories
The Pulitzer Prize currently spans 23 categories divided across three broad domains: journalism, books and drama, and music. When people refer to the “Pulitzer Prize for literature,” they are usually speaking informally about the book categories collectively — fiction, poetry, general nonfiction, biography, history, and memoir. There is no single category by that name. What exists instead is a carefully structured group of awards, each with its own criteria, history, and tradition.
All book, drama, and music categories require American authorship or citizenship. Translations are not eligible. Each carries a prize of $15,000 and a certificate, awarded on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board following nominations by independent juries.
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is awarded for a distinguished work of fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. The winning book must have been published in the calendar year preceding the award.
The category has a longer history than its current name suggests. From 1917 to 1947, it was called the Novel Prize. It was renamed Fiction in 1948 to reflect a broader scope — one that includes not just traditional novels but short story collections and other long-form prose. Genre fiction is eligible. Science fiction, mystery, and thriller titles can all be considered, provided they meet the standard of literary distinction. Translations, however, are never eligible under any circumstances.
Since 1980, three finalists — known as Pulitzer fiction finalists — have been publicly named alongside the winner each year. Before that, the deliberations were largely internal. The public naming of finalists added a layer of transparency and gave wider recognition to books that came close but did not take the prize.
Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Plays
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the original categories, awarded continuously since 1917. It shares that distinction with the journalism prizes as the oldest in the program.
The award recognizes a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source material and dealing with American life. Productions staged in New York or elsewhere in the United States are eligible. The prize carries $15,000.
What makes the Drama category distinctive is the Board’s willingness to withhold it entirely. In years when no submitted work meets the standard of distinction, no prize is given. This has happened multiple times across the award’s history — a reminder that the Pulitzer is not simply a prize given to the best entry in a field, but a recognition of genuine excellence. A weak year produces no winner, not a compromise.
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry has been awarded since 1922, when it evolved from an earlier poetry recognition administered by Columbia University. It is given for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. Entrants must be United States citizens.
The poetry prize has produced some of the most celebrated names in American literary history. Robert Frost won it four times. Sylvia Plath received it posthumously. W.S. Merwin won twice — decades apart — a rare distinction that reflects both the longevity of his career and the consistency of his work.
Unlike fiction, where a novel’s commercial profile can raise its visibility, the poetry prize often introduces readers to work they might not have encountered otherwise. That is part of its cultural function: not just to honor, but to direct attention.
Pulitzer Prize for Music
The Pulitzer Prize for Music was established in 1943, making it one of the newer additions to the program — though it has since built a substantial history of its own. It recognizes a distinguished musical composition by an American composer that received its first performance or recording in the United States during the prior year.
For most of its history, the music prize went almost exclusively to composers working in classical and contemporary concert traditions. Names like Aaron Copland and Wynton Marsalis defined its early and middle decades. That changed when Kendrick Lamar won for his album DAMN. — the first hip-hop work ever to receive the prize, and a moment that signaled a deliberate broadening of what the Pulitzer Prize Board considers distinguished American music.
The prize has been withheld in several years — including 1953, 1964, 1965, and 1981 — when no submitted work met the required standard. Only one music prize is awarded per year, across all 23 categories.
Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction was established in 1962 and serves as the broadest category in the books division. It is awarded for a distinguished and appropriately documented work of nonfiction by an American author that does not qualify for consideration under any other category.
In practice, this makes it a home for an unusually wide range of work. Books on science, public policy, the history of other nations, cultural criticism, and long-form reportage have all won here. If a nonfiction book is too far-reaching or too unconventional to fit neatly into biography or history, General Nonfiction is where it lands — and where some of the most ambitious American writing has been recognized. The prize carries $15,000.
Other Book Categories
Beyond fiction, drama, poetry, music, and general nonfiction, the Pulitzer Prize program includes three further book categories, all carrying the same $15,000 prize and the same requirement of American authorship.
The Biography or Autobiography prize has been awarded since 1917, making it one of the original categories. It recognizes a distinguished biographical or autobiographical work by an American author.
The History prize, also dating to 1917, is awarded specifically for a distinguished and appropriately documented book on the history of the United States. International history does not qualify here — that work would fall under General Nonfiction.
The Memoir or Autobiography category was introduced as a standalone prize in 2023, separating memoir from the longer-running Biography category to reflect how differently the two forms are now written and read. All three categories follow the same rules: American author, published in the prior calendar year, submitted with the required entry fee and documentation.
Pulitzer Prize Winners and Finalists
Winning a Pulitzer Prize is not the result of a popularity vote, an industry poll, or a submission reviewed by a single editor. The selection process is structured, independent, and deliberately insulated from outside influence. According to the administration guidelines published on pulitzer.org, the system runs on two tiers — expert juries who read and evaluate the work, and an independent Board that makes the final call.
The Jury and Nomination Process
Each year, approximately 80 jurors participate across all Pulitzer Prize categories, working remotely over several months. These jurors are drawn from journalism, academia, literature, music, and the arts — professionals with direct expertise in the category they are evaluating.
Every jury is required to submit exactly three nominations per category. Crucially, these three nominees are presented in no ranked order. The jury does not declare a favorite. Instead, the jury chair submits a written report to the Pulitzer Prize Board that broadly reflects the group’s thinking — the reasoning behind the nominations, the strengths of each work, and any points of debate among members.
The Board then takes over. It reviews the nominations across every category, discusses them, and votes. Winners are selected by majority vote. The Board is not bound to rubber-stamp the jury’s work — it reads, debates, and decides independently. In practice, this means the prize can go to a work the jury ranked third in importance, or one the Board finds more compelling than the jury’s collective instinct suggested.
For fiction and other book categories, the three nominees become the publicly named Pulitzer finalists — a designation that carries its own weight in the literary world. Being named a Pulitzer Prize finalist, even without winning, is a recognized mark of distinction that follows a book and its author for years.
What Happens If No Winner Is Selected?
The Pulitzer Prize can simply not be awarded. This is one of the features that most clearly separates it from awards that must produce a winner every year regardless of the quality of submissions. If no entry in a given category earns a majority vote from the Board, the prize for that category is withheld entirely. No runner-up is elevated. No compromise is made. The category goes unawarded that year.
The Board also holds two additional powers that are rarely used but important to understand. By a three-fourths majority vote, it can select a winner from outside the jury’s three nominations — choosing a work the jury did not put forward but that the Board considers more deserving. It can also move a nomination from one category to another, if the Board believes a submitted work fits a different award better than the one it was entered for.
These powers exist not to override expert judgment routinely, but to ensure the Board remains genuinely sovereign over the outcome. The jury nominates. The Board decides.
Prize Money and the Gold Medal
Every Pulitzer Prize winner receives a certificate and a cash award of $15,000. This applies across all book, drama, and music categories, as well as the journalism prizes — with one significant exception.
The Public Service award, which is the most coveted prize in the journalism division, carries no cash component. Its winner receives the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal instead. Despite the name, the medal is technically made of silver and plated in 24-karat gold — a detail confirmed by the prize’s own official materials.
The Gold Medal is never awarded to an individual journalist. It goes exclusively to a news organization — the publication or broadcaster whose work is judged to have rendered the most distinguished public service through journalism that year. This makes it the only Pulitzer Prize that recognizes an institution rather than a person, and the only one for which no monetary award is given.
For that reason, it stands apart from the other 22 prizes — not just in form, but in what it represents. A $15,000 prize honors a person. A gold medal awarded to a newsroom honors a commitment to accountability that no single byline can carry alone.
| No. | Year | Title | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1918 | Ernest Poole | His Family |
| 2 | 1919 | The Magnificent Ambersons | Booth Tarkington |
| 3 | 1921 | The Age of Innocence | Edith Wharton |
| 4 | 1922 | Alice Adams | Booth Tarkington |
| 5 | 1923 | One of Ours | Willa Cather |
| 6 | 1925 | So Big | Edna Ferber |
| 7 | 1926 | Arrowsmith | Sinclair Lewis (declined) |
| 8 | 1927 | Early Autumn | Louis Bromfield |
| 9 | 1932 | The Good Earth | Pearl S. Buck |
| 10 | 1940 | The Grapes of Wrath | John Steinbeck |
| 11 | 1953 | The Old Man and the Sea | Ernest Hemingway |
| 12 | 1961 | To Kill a Mockingbird | Harper Lee |
| 13 | 1966 | The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter | Katherine Anne Porter |
| 14 | 1976 | Humboldt's Gift | Saul Bellow |
| 15 | 1983 | The Color Purple | Alice Walker |
| 16 | 1988 | Beloved | Toni Morrison |
| 17 | 1993 | A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain | Robert Olen Butler |
| 18 | 1997 | Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer | Steven Millhauser |
| 19 | 2003 | Middlesex | Jeffrey Eugenides |
| 20 | 2006 | March | Geraldine Brooks |
| 21 | 2007 | The Road | Cormac McCarthy |
| 22 | 2010 | Tinkers | Paul Harding |
| 23 | 2013 | The Orphan Master's Son | Adam Johnson |
| 24 | 2016 | The Sympathizer | Viet Thanh Nguyen |
| 25 | 2019 | The Overstory | Richard Powers |
| 26 | 2021 | The Night Watchman | Louise Erdrich |
| 27 | 2022 | The Netanyahus | Joshua Cohen |
| 28 | 2023 | Trust | Hernan Diaz |
| 29 | 2024 | Night Watch | Jayne Anne Phillips |
| 30 | 2025 | James | Percival Everett |
FAQ: Everything You Need to Know About the Pulitzer Prize
Key questions answered about America's most prestigious award in journalism, literature, drama, and music
Established through the will of Hungarian-American newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, the prizes have been awarded every year since 1917. They are widely considered the most authoritative recognition in American letters and the press. Each winner receives a certificate and $15,000, with the exception of the Public Service journalism award, which carries a Gold Medal awarded to a news organization.
The administrators of the prize at pulitzer.org recommend the memory phrase "Pull it, sir" to get it right. In standard phonetic notation, the name is written as /ˈpʊlɪtsər/. The most common mispronunciation — "PYOO-litzer" — places a long "u" at the front, which is incorrect. The name is Hungarian in origin, which explains why the vowel behaves differently from what English speakers might expect.
Originally called the Novel Prize from 1917 to 1947, it was renamed Fiction in 1948. Since 1980, three publicly named Pulitzer fiction finalists are announced alongside the winner each year. Genre fiction — including science fiction, mystery, and thriller — is eligible. Translations are never eligible. The work must have been published in the calendar year preceding the award.
For most of its history, the prize went to composers working in classical and contemporary concert traditions — including Aaron Copland and Wynton Marsalis. That changed when Kendrick Lamar won for his album DAMN., becoming the first hip-hop work ever to receive the prize. The music prize has been withheld in several years, including 1953, 1964, 1965, and 1981, when no submitted work met the required standard.
General Nonfiction, established in 1962, is the broadest category — covering distinguished nonfiction not eligible under any other heading, from science writing to cultural criticism. The Memoir or Autobiography category was introduced as a standalone prize in 2023, separating memoir from the longer-running Biography category. History is restricted to books about the United States specifically; international history falls under General Nonfiction.
Approximately 80 jurors participate each year across all categories, working remotely. Each jury submits exactly three nominations in no ranked order, accompanied by a written report from the jury chair. The Board reviews all nominations independently, debates them, and votes. It is not bound by jury preferences — it can withhold a prize entirely, select a work the jury did not nominate, or move an entry between categories by a three-fourths vote.
This has happened multiple times across the prize's history — most visibly in the Drama and Music categories. No runner-up is elevated in place of a withheld prize. The category simply goes unawarded that year. This policy is one of the features that most clearly distinguishes the Pulitzer from awards that must produce a winner regardless of submission quality.
There is no official Pulitzer Prize category called "Pulitzer Prize for Literature" — that is an informal label people use collectively for the fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction categories. The Nobel Prize in Literature is a Swedish award open to authors of any nationality. The Pulitzer book prizes are restricted to American authors and works originally written in English. The two awards do not overlap in administration, eligibility, or process.
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