Columbia University announced the 2021 Pulitzer Prizes on June 11, 2021. The prizes have been awarded on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board.
The 105th class of Pulitzer Prize winners in Journalism, Books, Drama and Music were announced. The Pulitzer Prize is awarded in 22 categories in journalism and the arts each year.
Complete list of 2021 Pulitzer Prize winners:
Journalism
Public Service:
The New York Times
Breaking News Reporting:
Staff of the Star Tribune, Minneapolis, Minn.
Investigative Reporting:
Matt Rocheleau, Vernal Coleman, Laura Crimaldi, Evan Allen and Brendan McCarthy of The Boston Globe
Explanatory Reporting:
- Andrew Chung, Lawrence Hurley, Andrea Januta, Jaimi Dowdell and Jackie Botts of Reuters
- Ed Yong of The Atlantic
Local Reporting:
Kathleen McGrory and Neil Bedi of the Tampa Bay Times
National Reporting:
Staffs of The Marshall Project; AL.com, Birmingham; IndyStar, Indianapolis; and the Invisible Institute, Chicago
International Reporting:
Megha Rajagopalan, Alison Killing and Christo Buschek of BuzzFeed News
Feature Writing:
- Nadja Drost, freelance contributor, The California Sunday Magazine
- Mitchell S. Jackson, freelance contributor, Runner’s World
Commentary:
Michael Paul Williams of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch
Criticism:
Wesley Morris of The New York Times
Editorial Writing:
Robert Greene of the Los Angeles Times
Editorial Cartooning:
No award given
Breaking News Photography:
Photography Staff of Associated Press
Feature Photography:
Emilio Morenatti of Associated Press
Audio Reporting:
Lisa Hagen of WABE, Atlanta, Chris Haxel of KCUR, Kansas City, Graham Smith and Robert Little of National Public Radio
Books, Drama & Music
Drama:
The Hot Wing King, by Katori Hall
Fiction:
The Night Watchman, by Louise Erdrich (Harper)
History:
Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America, by Marcia Chatelain (Liveright/Norton)
Biography:
The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X, by the late Les Payne and Tamara Payne (Liveright/Norton)
General Nonfiction:
Wilmington’s Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy, by David Zucchino (Atlantic Monthly Press)
Poetry:
Postcolonial Love Poem, by Natalie Diaz (Graywolf Press)
Music:
Stride, by Tania León (Peermusic Classical)
Special Awards and Citations:
Darnella Frazier
About Pulitzer Prize:
The Pulitzer Prizes were established by Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-American journalist and newspaper publisher, who left money to Columbia University upon his death in 1911.
A portion of his bequest was used to found the School of Journalism in 1912 and to establish the Pulitzer Prizes, which were first awarded in 1917.
