Pulitzer Prize Winners
Full listings of the prize-winning books since the turn of the millennium
Last updated: September 09, 2026
Winning a Pulitzer Prize, or even being a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, is considered a career-defining achievement. The Pulitzer Prizes were established by the Hungarian-American journalist and newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, who left a sizeable bequest to Columbia University on his death in 1911. This money was used to found the university's prestigious School of Journalism, and the prizes were first awarded in 1917.
Today, a Pulitzer Prize is worth $15,000 as a cash prize, except in the case of the public service reporting award, which takes the form of a gold medal. Winners and finalists of all the Pulitzer Prizes are announced by Columbia University in May each year.
Generally speaking, as Boris Kachka relays in The Atlantic, the prize for fiction is the highest profile in as much as the jury's selection tends to be analysed at length in the media. Nonfiction awards are generally less pored-over but, in general, the prize jury tends to reward books “that cover social issues in human (almost novelistic) ways. These are about serious topics, but approached with literary flair.” The jury is composed of leading journalists or news executives, as well as a number of notable academics and public figures working in the arts.
As a rule of thumb, the list of Pulitzer Prize-winning titles is an excellent way to identify books worth reading, both for their readability and for their intellectual heft. Find below a collection of our coverage of previous Pulitzer Prize winners and finalists.
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Autobiographies and Memoirs
Since 2023, the Pulitzer Prize jury has awarded $15,000 annually to “a distinguished and factual memoir or autobiography by an American author.” We’ve put together a list of the exceptional books that have received this honour since the prize’s inauguration—plus the finalists who have been singled out for particular praise.
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Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution
by Amanda Vaill -
Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life
by Jason Roberts -
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom
by Ilyon Woo -
King: A Life
by Jonathan Eig -
G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century
by Beverly Gage
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Biographies
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Biographies
The Pulitzer Prize for Biography is awarded annually to “a distinguished and appropriately documented” biography by an author from or based in the United States. The authors of winning books receive $15,000, and join a starry pantheon of great American writers. Here, we’ve put together a summary of all the Pulitzer-winning biographies since the turn of the millennium.
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Native Nations: A Millennium in North America
by Kathleen DuVal -
Combee: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom During the Civil War
by Edda L. Fields-Black -
Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life
by Jason Roberts -
To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement
by Benjamin Nathans -
Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir
by Tessa Hulls
2025 Pulitzer Prize Nonfiction Book Winners
2025 Pulitzer Prize Nonfiction Book Winners
In May, the winners of the 2025 Pulitzer Prizes, awarded annually by Columbia University in New York and founded by Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911), were announced. The prizes are awarded for a variety of categories across journalism, but also celebrate outstanding books. Below we’ve listed all the books that won in nonfiction book categories (James by Percival Everett won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction).
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novels
Every year, the Pulitzer Prize jury awards $15,000 to a work of “distinguished fiction published during the year by an American author, preferably dealing with American life.” We’ve compiled a guide to the books that have won this prize since the turn of the millennium.
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Native Nations: A Millennium in North America
by Kathleen DuVal -
Combee: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom During the Civil War
by Edda L. Fields-Black -
No Right to An Honest Living: The Struggles of Boston's Black Workers in the Civil War Era
by Jacqueline Jones -
Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power
by Jefferson Cowie -
Cuba: An American History
by Ada Ferrer
Pulitzer Prize-Winning History Books
Pulitzer Prize-Winning History Books
Every year, the Pulitzer Prize jury awards $15,000 to a “distinguished and appropriately documented book on the history of the United States.” We’ve compiled a guide to the winning books since the turn of the millennium.
