Awards & Winners

2009 Pulitzer Prize

Check winners and nominations of 2009 Pulitzer Prize. Check awards winners of 2009 Pulitzer Prize. (Click on the Award name to show winners and nominees)

2009 Pulitzer Prize

Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography

Patrick Farrell

Honored for : ''A People in Despair: Haiti's Year Without Mercy.''
(For his provocative, impeccably composed images of despair after Hurricane Ike and other lethal storms caused a humanitarian disaster in Haiti.)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Associated Press
For its haunting chronicle of death, destruction, heartbreak and renewal when an earthquake devastated Sichuan, China.
Carolyn Cole
For her valorous on-the-spot coverage of political violence in Kenya, capturing the terror as rebellion and reprisals jolted the nation.
Patrick Farrell ''A People in Despair: Haiti's Year Without Mercy.''
For his provocative, impeccably composed images of despair after Hurricane Ike and other lethal storms caused a humanitarian disaster in Haiti.
Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting

Julie Cart, Bettina Boxall

(For their fresh and painstaking exploration into the cost and effectiveness of attempts to combat the growing menace of wildfires across the western United States.)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Adam Liptak
For his lucid exposition of how the cornerstones of the American judicial system differ from those in other democratic nations, awakening readers to the benefits and drawbacks of those differences.
Robert O'Harrow, Jr.
For their vivid, richly documented explanation of why AIG, the insurance industry giant, nearly collapsed and what lessons the crisis holds for the nation\u2019s policymakers.
Brady Dennis
For their vivid, richly documented explanation of why AIG, the insurance industry giant, nearly collapsed and what lessons the crisis holds for the nation\u2019s policymakers.
Bettina Boxall
For their fresh and painstaking exploration into the cost and effectiveness of attempts to combat the growing menace of wildfires across the western United States.
Julie Cart
For their fresh and painstaking exploration into the cost and effectiveness of attempts to combat the growing menace of wildfires across the western United States.
Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting

The New York Times

(For its masterful, groundbreaking coverage of America\u2019s deepening military and political challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan, reporting frequently done under perilous conditions.)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
The Washington Post
For its sensitive and moving examination of how females in the developing world are often oppressed from birth to death, a reporting project marked by indelible portraits of women and girls and enhanced by multimedia presentations.
Rukmini Maria Callimachi
For her in-depth investigation of the exploitation of impoverished children in West and Central Africa who are often traded like animals by adults who prize their labor.
The New York Times
For its masterful, groundbreaking coverage of America\u2019s deepening military and political challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan, reporting frequently done under perilous conditions.
Pulitzer Prize for Commentary

Eugene Robinson

(For his eloquent columns on the 2008 presidential campaign that focus on the election of the first African-American president, showcasing graceful writing and grasp of the larger historic picture.)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Eugene Robinson
2008 presidential campaign that focus on the election of the first African-American president, showcasing graceful writing and grasp of the larger historic picture.
Regina Brett
For her range of compelling columns that move the heart, challenge authority and often trigger action while giving readers deeper insight into life\u2019s challenges.
Paul Krugman
For his prophetic columns on economic peril during a year of financial calamity, blending the scholarly knowledge of a distinguished economist with the skill of a wordsmith.
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing

Mark Mahoney

(For his relentless, down-to-earth editorials on the perils of local government secrecy, effectively admonishing citizens to uphold their right to know.)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Mark Mahoney
For his relentless, down-to-earth editorials on the perils of local government secrecy, effectively admonishing citizens to uphold their right to know
Charles Lane
For his succinct and insightful editorials on the nation\u2019s economic collapse, zeroing in on problems and offering solutions with a steady voice of reason.
Marie Dillon
For their persistent campaign to reform statehouse ethics, drawing on corruption in the governor\u2019s office to drive home their successful call for legislative action.
R. Bruce Dold
For their persistent campaign to reform statehouse ethics, drawing on corruption in the governor\u2019s office to drive home their successful call for legislative action.
John P. McCormick
For their persistent campaign to reform statehouse ethics, drawing on corruption in the governor\u2019s office to drive home their successful call for legislative action.
Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography

Damon Winter

(For his memorable array of pictures deftly capturing multiple facets of Barack Obama\u2019s presidential campaign.)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Damon Winter
For his memorable array of pictures deftly capturing multiple facets of Barack Obama\u2019s presidential campaign.
Carol Guzy
For her powerfully intimate coverage of the perils and sorrow of childbirth in Sierra Leone, where women face the world\u2019s highest rate of maternal mortality.
Sonya Hebert
For her empathetic portrait of palliative care in a Texas medical center as terminally ill patients cope with the end of their lives.
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Elizabeth Strout

Honored for : Olive Kitteridge

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Elizabeth Strout Olive Kitteridge
Louise Erdrich The Plague of Doves
Christine Schutt All Souls
Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Lynn Nottage

Honored for : Ruined

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Lynn Nottage Ruined
Gina Gionfriddo Becky Shaw
Lin-Manuel Miranda In the Heights
Quiara Alegría Hudes In the Heights
Pulitzer Prize for History

Annette Gordon-Reed

Honored for : The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Drew Gilpin Faust This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War
G. Calvin Mackenzie The Liberal Hour: Washington and the Politics of Change in the 1960s
Robert Weisbrot The Liberal Hour: Washington and the Politics of Change in the 1960s
Annette Gordon-Reed The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography

Jon Meacham

Honored for : American Lion

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Jon Meacham American Lion
H. W. Brands Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Steve Coll The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

W. S. Merwin

Honored for : The Shadow of Sirius

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
W. S. Merwin The Shadow of Sirius
Frank Bidart Watching the Spring Festival
Ruth Stone What Love Comes To
Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction

Douglas A. Blackmon

Honored for : Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II
(A precise and eloquent work that examines a deliberate system of racial suppression and that rescues a multitude of atrocities from virtual obscurity.)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Arthur Herman Gandhi and Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age
An authoritative, deeply researched book that achieves an extraordinary balance in weighing two mighty protagonists against each other.
Douglas A. Blackmon Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II
A precise and eloquent work that examines a deliberate system of racial suppression and that rescues a multitude of atrocities from virtual obscurity.
William I. Hitchcock The Bitter Road to Freedom: A New History of the Liberation of Europe
A heavily documented exploration of the overlooked suffering of noncombatants in the victory over Nazi Germany, written with the dash of a novelist and the authority of a scholar.
Pulitzer Prize for Music

Steve Reich

Honored for : Double Sextet

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Steve Reich Double Sextet
Don Byron 7 Etudes for Solo Piano
Harold Meltzer Brion
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service

Alexandra Berzon

Honored for : Las Vegas Sun
(For the exposure of the high death rate among construction workers on the Las Vegas Strip amid lax enforcement of regulations, leading to changes in policy and improved safety conditions.)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Las Vegas Sun
For the exposure of the high death rate among construction workers on the Las Vegas Strip amid lax enforcement of regulations, leading to changes in policy and improved safety conditions.
The New York Times
For its comprehensive coverage of the economic meltdown of 2008, setting a standard for depth and sophistication while making the arcane world of finance and banking accessible to an often bewildered public.
The St. Petersburg Times
For \u201CPolitiFact,\u201D its fact-checking initiative during the 2008 presidential campaign that used probing reporters and the power of the World Wide Web to examine more than 750 political claims, separating rhetoric from truth to enlighten voters. (Moved by the Board to the National Reporting category.)
Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting

David Barstow

(For his tenacious reporting that revealed how some retired generals, working as radio and television analysts, had been co-opted by the Pentagon to make its case for the war in Iraq, and how many of them also had undisclosed ties to companies that benefited from policies they defended.)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
David Barstow
For his tenacious reporting that revealed how some retired generals, working as radio and television analysts, had been co-opted by the Pentagon to make its case for the war in Iraq, and how many of them also had undisclosed ties to companies that benefited from policies they defended.
Paul Pringle
For his meticulously researched stories that, in the face of threats, exposed financial abuses by the head of California\u2019s largest union, leading to investigations, the leader\u2019s departure from office and repayment of misappropriated funds.
Susanne Rust
For their powerful revelations that the government was failing to protect the public from dangerous chemicals in everyday products, such as some \u201Cmicrowave-safe\u201D containers, stirring action by Congress and federal agencies.
Meg Kissinger
For their powerful revelations that the government was failing to protect the public from dangerous chemicals in everyday products, such as some \u201Cmicrowave-safe\u201D containers, stirring action by Congress and federal agencies.
Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting

Paul Giblin, Ryan Gabrielson

Honored for : East Valley Tribune
(For their adroit use of limited resources to reveal, in print and online, how a popular sheriff\u2019s focus on immigration enforcement endangered investigation of violent crime and other aspects of public safety.)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Ryan Gabrielson
For their adroit use of limited resources to reveal, in print and online, how a popular sheriff\u2019s focus on immigration enforcement endangered investigation of violent crime and other aspects of public safety.
Paul Giblin
For their adroit use of limited resources to reveal, in print and online, how a popular sheriff\u2019s focus on immigration enforcement endangered investigation of violent crime and other aspects of public safety.
Michael DeMocker
For their multifaceted examination of a murder case that showed deep understanding of the community, its social ills and the often frustrating path to justice.
Ryan Smith
For their multifaceted examination of a murder case that showed deep understanding of the community, its social ills and the often frustrating path to justice.
Brendan McCarthy
For their multifaceted examination of a murder case that showed deep understanding of the community, its social ills and the often frustrating path to justice.
Jim Schaefer Detroit Free Press
For their uncovering of a pattern of lies by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick that included denial of a sexual relationship with his female chief of staff, prompting an investigation of perjury that eventually led to jail terms for the two officials.
M.L. Elrick Detroit Free Press
For their uncovering of a pattern of lies by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick that included denial of a sexual relationship with his female chief of staff, prompting an investigation of perjury that eventually led to jail terms for the two officials.
Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing

Lane DeGregory

(For 'The Girl in the Window,' her moving, richly detailed story of a neglected little girl, found in a roach-infested room, unable to talk or feed herself, who was adopted by a new family committed to her nurturing.)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Lane DeGregory
For 'The Girl in the Window,' her moving, richly detailed story of a neglected little girl, found in a roach-infested room, unable to talk or feed herself, who was adopted by a new family committed to her nurturing.
Amy Ellis Nutt
For her poignant, deeply reported story of a chiropractor who suffered a severe stroke following brain surgery and became a wildly creative artist, in many ways estranged from his former self.
John Barry
For his concise, captivating story about a rescued baby dolphin that needed a new tail and became a famous survivor, illuminating the mysterious connection between human beings and animals.
Diane Suchetka
For her harrowing tale of a mechanic whose arms were reattached after being severed in an accident, a disciplined narrative that takes readers on the man\u2019s painful personal and physical journey to recover.
Pulitzer Prize for Criticism

Holland Cotter

(For his wide ranging reviews of art, from Manhattan to China, marked by acute observation, luminous writing and dramatic storytelling.)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Holland Cotter
For his wide ranging reviews of art, from Manhattan to China, marked by acute observation, luminous writing and dramatic storytelling.
Inga Saffron
For her fascinating and convincing architectural critiques that boldly confront important topics, from urban planning issues to the newest skyscraper.
Sebastian Smee
For his fresh, accessible and energetic reviews on the New England art scene, creating for readers a sense of discovery even as he provides discerning analysis.
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning

Steve Breen

(For his agile use of a classic style to produce wide ranging cartoons that engage readers with power, clarity and humor.)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Steve Breen
For his agile use of a classic style to produce wide ranging cartoons that engage readers with power, clarity and humor.
Mike Thompson
For his compelling collection of print and animated cartoons that blend the great traditions of the craft with new online possibilities.
Matt Wuerker
For his engaging mix of art and ideas, resulting in cleverly conceived cartoons that persuade rather than rant and that sometimes use animation to widen their impact.
Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting

Serge F. Kovaleski, Jeremy W. Peters, Nicholas Confessore, Danny Hakim

Honored for : The New York Times
(For its swift and sweeping coverage of a sex scandal that resulted in the resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, breaking the story on its Web site and then developing it with authoritative, rapid-fire reports.)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Houston Chronicle
For taking full advantage of online technology and its newsroom expertise to become a lifeline to the city when Hurricane Ike struck, providing vital minute-by-minute updates on the storm, its flood surge and its aftermath.
Lee Enterprises St. Louis Post-Dispatch
For its creative and aggressive coverage, both online and in print, of a city hall shooting that left six people dead, displaying an exemplary blend of speed and rigor in its reporting.
The New York Times
For its swift and sweeping coverage of a sex scandal that resulted in the resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, breaking the story on its Web site and then developing it with authoritative, rapid-fire reports.
Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting

Jim Schaefer, M.L. Elrick

Honored for : Detroit Free Press
(For their uncovering of a pattern of lies by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick that included denial of a sexual relationship with his female chief of staff, prompting an investigation of perjury that eventually led to jail terms for the two officials)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Ryan Gabrielson
For their adroit use of limited resources to reveal, in print and online, how a popular sheriff\u2019s focus on immigration enforcement endangered investigation of violent crime and other aspects of public safety.
Paul Giblin
For their adroit use of limited resources to reveal, in print and online, how a popular sheriff\u2019s focus on immigration enforcement endangered investigation of violent crime and other aspects of public safety.
Michael DeMocker
For their multifaceted examination of a murder case that showed deep understanding of the community, its social ills and the often frustrating path to justice.
Ryan Smith
For their multifaceted examination of a murder case that showed deep understanding of the community, its social ills and the often frustrating path to justice.
Brendan McCarthy
For their multifaceted examination of a murder case that showed deep understanding of the community, its social ills and the often frustrating path to justice.
Jim Schaefer Detroit Free Press
For their uncovering of a pattern of lies by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick that included denial of a sexual relationship with his female chief of staff, prompting an investigation of perjury that eventually led to jail terms for the two officials.
M.L. Elrick Detroit Free Press
For their uncovering of a pattern of lies by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick that included denial of a sexual relationship with his female chief of staff, prompting an investigation of perjury that eventually led to jail terms for the two officials.
Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting

Tampa Bay Times

(For \u201CPolitiFact,\u201D its fact-checking initiative during the 2008 presidential campaign that used probing reporters and the power of the World Wide Web to examine more than 750 political claims, separating rhetoric from truth to enlighten voters.)

Nominations »

Nominee Nominated Work
Amy Goldstein
For their relentless exploration of America\u2019s network of immigration detention centers, melding reporting and computer analysis to expose sometimes deadly abuses and spur corrective steps.
Dana Priest
For their relentless exploration of America\u2019s network of immigration detention centers, melding reporting and computer analysis to expose sometimes deadly abuses and spur corrective steps.
John Shiffman
For their exhaustive reports on how political interests have eroded the mission of the Environmental Protection Agency and placed the nation\u2019s environment in greater jeopardy, setting the stage for remedial action.
John Sullivan
For their exhaustive reports on how political interests have eroded the mission of the Environmental Protection Agency and placed the nation\u2019s environment in greater jeopardy, setting the stage for remedial action.
Tom Avril
For their exhaustive reports on how political interests have eroded the mission of the Environmental Protection Agency and placed the nation\u2019s environment in greater jeopardy, setting the stage for remedial action.
The Wall Street Journal
For its highly detailed coverage of the collapse of America\u2019s financial system, explicating key decisions, capturing the sense of calamity and charting the human toll.
Tampa Bay Times
For \u201CPolitiFact,\u201D its fact-checking initiative during the 2008 presidential campaign that used probing reporters and the power of the World Wide Web to examine more than 750 political claims, separating rhetoric from truth to enlighten voters.