Aretha Franklin got the respect she deserved with this year’s Pulitzer Prizes. Franklin posthumously received one of two Special Citations, “for her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades.†The second citation went to the staff of the Capital Gazette. The South Florida Sun Sentinel for its reporting on the Parkland school shooting and Jackie Sibblies Drury’s play Fairview were also among the winners. The full list of Pulitzer winners is here.
Journalism
Public Service: The South Florida Sun Sentinel
Breaking News Reporting: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Investigative Reporting: Matt Hamilton, Harriet Ryan, and Paul Pringle of the Los Angeles Times
Explanatory Reporting: David Barstow, Susanne Craig, and Russ Buettner of the New York Times
Local Reporting: The Advocate
National Reporting: The Wall Street Journal
International Reporting: Maggie Michael, Maad al-Zikry and Nariman El-Mofty of Associated Press and the staff at Reuters
Feature Writing: Hannah Dreier, ProPublica
Commentary: Tony Messenger, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Criticism: Carlos Lozada, the Washington Post
Editorial Writing: Brent Staples, the New York Times
Editorial Cartooning: Darrin Bell, freelancer
Breaking News Photography: Reuters
Feature Photography: Lorenzo Tugnoli, the Washington Post
Letters, Drama & Music
Fiction: The Overstory, by Richard Powers
Drama: Fairview, by Jackie Sibblies Drury
History: Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, by David W. Blight
Biography: The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke, by Jeffrey C. Stewart
Poetry: Be With, by Forrest Gander
General Nonfiction: Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America, by Eliza Griswold
Music: p r i s m, by Ellen Reid