The 2017 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced on April 10. In journalism in this age of so-called fake news, The New York Times and the Washington Post took several of the top honors. But in what is perhaps one of the most diverse years for the Letters, Drama and Music section top honors were awarded to two African Americans – Colson Whitehead for The Underground Railroad (see NDG’s review here), Sweat by Lynn Nottage and for poetry Tyehimba Jess.
LETTERS, DRAMA & MUSIC
The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)
For a smart melding of realism and allegory that combines the violence of slavery and the drama of escape in a myth that speaks to contemporary America.
Drama
Sweat, by Lynn Nottage
For a nuanced yet powerful drama that reminds audiences of the stacked deck still facing workers searching for the American dream.
History
Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy, by Heather Ann Thompson (Pantheon)
For a narrative history that sets high standards for scholarly judgment and tenacity of inquiry in seeking the truth about the 1971 Attica prison riots.
Biography or Autobiography
The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between, by Hisham Matar (Random House)
For a first-person elegy for home and father that examines with controlled emotion the past and present of an embattled region.
Poetry
Olio, by Tyehimba Jess (Wave Books)
For a distinctive work that melds performance art with the deeper art of poetry to explore collective memory and challenge contemporary notions of race and identity.
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond (Crown)
For a deeply researched exposé that showed how mass evictions after the 2008 economic crash were less a consequence than a cause of poverty.
Angel’s Bone, by Du Yun
Premiered on January 6, 2016, at the Prototype Festival, 3LD Arts and Technology Center, New York City, a bold operatic work that integrates vocal and instrumental elements and a wide range of styles into a harrowing allegory for human trafficking in the modern world. Libretto by Royce Vavrek.
Actually, 2017 is the most diverse (most Black winners) in the 101-year history the award has been given. Hilton Als also won for Criticism. Here is a list of all the Black winners, and finalist, in the Drama and Letters categories over the past century: https://aalbc.com/books/pulitzer-prize-books.php
Thank you Troy for sharing!
No problem indie presses are more important than ever!