Published by
Features

2012 Pulitzer Prize Winners

The list of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize winners is out. Among this year's winners were the late Manning Marable for his book on Malcolm X, Brooklyn poet Tracy Smith and Kevin Puts for his "Silent Night" opera. For the first time in 35 years, there was no winner in the fiction category.

The drama prize went to Quiara Alegria Hudes for the play "Water by the Spoonful," about a returning Iraq war veteran.

The Associated Press won a top journalism prize. Its series on a secret New York Police Department program that spied on Muslims won the Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting.

The Pulitzer for public service has been awarded to The Philadelphia Inquirer for its reporting on pervasive violence in the city's schools.

Another Pennsylvania paper won for breaking news on the Penn State sex abuse scandal. The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., won the Pulitzer in local reporting on the scandal that eventually brought down legendary football coach Joe Paterno.

The Pulitzers are the most prestigious awards in journalism and are given out annually by Columbia University. Each award, except the public service award, carries a $10,000 prize. A gold medal is given to the public service award winner.

Here's the full list of winners:

Journalism

Letters, Drama and Music

  • Fiction - No award
  • Drama - "Water by the Spoonful" by Quiara Alegría Hudes
  • History - "Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention," by the late Manning Marable (Viking)
  • Biography - "George F. Kennan: An American Life," by John Lewis Gaddis (The Penguin Press)
  • Poetry - "Life on Mars" by Tracy K. Smith (Graywolf Press)
  • General Nonfiction - "The Swerve: How the World Became Modern," by Stephen Greenblatt (W.W. Norton and Company)
  • Music - "Silent Night: Opera in Two Acts" by Kevin Puts (Aperto Press)

With the Associated Press