Pulitzer Prize Fiction Winners by Year (1918–2024)

Year	Title & Author	Historical Context
2024	Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips	The novel was praised for its historical accuracy and its focus on the "hidden" casualties of war—the mentally ill and the displaced.
2023	Trust by Hernan Diaz	Shared the prize with "Demon Copperhead"; it is a masterclass in "unreliable narration" and the power of money to dictate "the truth."
2023	Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver	Shared the 2023 prize with "Trust"; Kingsolver used Dickens' framework to bring attention to the "forgotten" people of rural Virginia.
2022	The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen	The novel blends historical fact with "slapstick" comedy, exploring the tensions between American-Jewish identity and Zionism.
2021	The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich	Erdrich finally won after decades of being a finalist; the book is a tribute to the resilience of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.
2020	The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead	With this win, Whitehead became only the fourth person to win two Pulitzers for Fiction, and the first to win them for back-to-back novels.
2019	The Overstory by Richard Powers	Powers used a "tree-like" structure for the narrative, aiming to shift the focus from human drama to the vast, slow life of the natural world.
2018	Less by Andrew Sean Greer	A rare "pure comedy" win for the Pulitzer; it was praised for its wit and its empathetic portrayal of a "failed" gay writer.
2017	The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead	Whitehead won both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award for this novel, becoming one of the few authors to "sweep" the major prizes.
2016	The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen	A biting satire that challenged the "American" perspective of the Vietnam War, written by an author who came to the U.S. as a refugee.
2015	All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr	The novel is noted for its extremely short chapters and its "radiant" prose, focusing on the way technology (radio) connected people during the war.
2014	The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt	A polarizing win; while it was a massive commercial hit, critics like James Wood argued its tone belonged to children's literature, sparking a fier...
2013	The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson	Johnson spent years researching the "hermit kingdom" to create a surreal but grounded depiction of life under the Kim dynasty.
2012	No Award	The first "No Award" year in 35 years; it caused a massive outcry in the literary world and led to a reform of the Board's voting procedures.
2011	A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan	The book features a chapter written entirely as a PowerPoint presentation, signaling a new era of formal experimentation for the Pulitzer.
2010	Tinkers by Paul Harding	A massive upset; the book was published by a tiny academic press (Bellevue Literary Press) and had a very small initial print run.
2009	Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout	Strout's win proved the power of the "interconnected story" format; the book was later adapted into a multi-Emmy-winning miniseries.
2008	The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz	The novel is famous for its "Spanglish" prose and footnoted historical asides, blending pop culture nerdery with political tragedy.
2007	The Road by Cormac McCarthy	A rare win for "post-apocalyptic" fiction; the book's sparse, punctuation-free prose became instantly iconic and was a selection for Oprah's Book C...
2006	March by Geraldine Brooks	Brooks, an Australian-American journalist, used her experience as a war correspondent to depict the brutal reality of the Civil War camps.
2005	Gilead by Marilynne Robinson	The first of the "Gilead" series; it is celebrated for its spiritual depth and its beautiful, luminous prose regarding faith and fathers.
2004	The Known World by Edward P. Jones	Jones famously wrote the entire complex structure of the book in his head over several years before putting a single word on paper.
2003	Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides	The novel was a massive bestseller and a critical success for its daring exploration of gender identity and the "American melting pot" myth.
2002	Empire Falls by Richard Russo	Russo was praised as the "heir to Dickens" for his ability to write about class and economics with warmth and humor.
2001	The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon	The novel helped elevate "genre" topics (comics and magic) to the status of serious literary fiction in the eyes of major award boards.
2000	Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri	A rare debut collection win; Lahiri was just 32 years old when she won, making her one of the youngest recipients in history.
1999	The Hours by Michael Cunningham	A masterpiece of intertextuality; it was later adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, and Julianne Moore.
1998	American Pastoral by Philip Roth	This was Roth's first Pulitzer; it is the first book in his "American Trilogy" exploring the postwar American psyche.
1997	Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser	A surprise win for a short, stylized novel that reads more like a fairy tale than the gritty realism usually favored by the Board.
1996	Independence Day by Richard Ford	The first book to win both the Pulitzer and the PEN/Faulkner Award in the same year; it is the second book in Ford's "Bascombe" tetralogy.
1995	The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields	Shields was born in America but lived in Canada; the book is unique for including "artifacts" like family trees and fake photographs.
1994	The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx	Proulx's win was notable for its unique, "choppy" prose style and its celebration of a remote, rugged landscape and its eccentric people.
1993	A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler	Butler, a Vietnam veteran, was praised for his "empathic leap" in writing from the first-person perspective of Vietnamese refugees.
1992	A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley	The novel was a landmark for 90s feminism, shifting the perspective from the "patriarch" to the daughters and revealing hidden family traumas.
1991	Rabbit at Rest by John Updike	Updike became one of only three writers to win two Pulitzers for the same series of characters (the other being Booth Tarkington).
1990	The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos	Hijuelos was the first Hispanic author to win the Pulitzer for Fiction; the book is a lush, rhythmic tribute to the era of the Mambo.
1989	Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler	Tyler is known as the "master of the mundane"; she was praised for finding the profound beauty and tragedy in the lives of "average" Baltimore resi...
1988	Beloved by Toni Morrison	Morrison's win followed a public protest by 48 Black writers in the NYT who were outraged that her earlier work had been overlooked by major prizes.
1987	A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor	Taylor was a master of "The Southern Gentility" story; this win late in his life was seen as a tribute to his career-long focus on the domestic ten...
1986	Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry	McMurtry sought to "de-mythologize" the West, but the book became so beloved that it actually reinvigorated the Western myth for a new generation.
1985	Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie	Lurie was praised for her "intellectual" wit; the novel is a sharp critique of the academic world and the romantic myths Americans have about England.
1984	Ironweed by William Kennedy	Kennedy had three novels rejected by numerous publishers before "Ironweed" was picked up; the win put Albany on the literary map.
1983	The Color Purple by Alice Walker	Walker was the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer for Fiction; the book was later adapted into both an iconic film and a Broadway musical.
1982	Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike	Updike is one of only four authors to win two Pulitzers for Fiction; he is celebrated for his "microscopic" attention to the details of American do...
1981	A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole	A tragic and famous win; Toole died by suicide 11 years before publication. His mother tirelessly campaigned to get the book published, eventually ...
1980	The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer	A controversial choice for the Fiction category since it was based on real events; it defined the "True Crime" genre as a high-art literary form.
1979	The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever	Cheever was often called "the O'Hara of the suburbs"; this win was a crowning achievement for a writer who had spent 40 years mastering the short s...
1978	Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson	McPherson was the first Black author to win the Pulitzer for Fiction; he was famously private and focused on the craft of the "unclassifiable" Amer...
1977	No Award	Maclean was 73 when his debut was snubbed; the book eventually became a beloved classic and a major motion picture.
1976	Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow	The win helped propel Bellow to the Nobel Prize in Literature later that same year; the character of Humboldt was based on Bellow's real-life frien...
1975	The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara	Shaara had trouble even finding a publisher for the book; after his death, it became a massive bestseller and the basis for the film "Gettysburg."
1974	No Award	This is perhaps the most famous snub in Pulitzer history; it led many to question whether the Board was too out of touch with contemporary literature.
1973	The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty	Welty finally won after decades of being one of America's most respected writers; the book is a masterclass in economy and emotional precision.
1972	Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner	Stegner based the book on the real letters of Mary Hallock Foote; the novel is considered a masterpiece of the "Western" literary tradition.
1971	No Award	The 1970s saw frequent "No Award" years as the Board struggled to keep pace with the increasingly experimental and bold nature of modern fiction.
1970	The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford	Stafford was a master of the New Yorker-style story; her win reflected the high status of short fiction in the late 60s literary world.
1969	House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday	This win is credited with launching the "Native American Renaissance" in literature, breaking the long-standing invisibility of Indigenous authors ...
1968	The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron	The book was a massive bestseller but sparked a firestorm of controversy; many Black critics and historians denounced Styron (a white man) for his ...
1967	The Fixer by Bernard Malamud	Malamud used the historical Beilis case as a metaphor for the 1960s Civil Rights struggle, exploring the universal nature of injustice.
1966	The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter by Katherine Anne Porter	Porter won both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award for this collection, proving that the "short story" was as vital to American letters as th...
1965	The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau	Grau faced significant backlash in the South for the book's themes; she even received threats from the KKK after the Pulitzer win.
1964	No Award	This was a peak era of friction between the specialized literary juries and the more conservative Pulitzer Board.
1963	The Reivers by William Faulkner	A posthumous win for Faulkner; it is one of his most accessible and lighthearted works, contrasting sharply with his earlier, darker tragedies.
1962	The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O'Connor	O'Connor finally won after being snubbed by the board in 1957; the book is praised for its authentic portrayal of the "ordinariness" of the priesth...
1961	To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee	Lee's only novel for over 50 years; it became one of the most beloved books in American history and was adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring...
1960	Advise and Consent by Allen Drury	The book stayed on the bestseller list for 102 weeks and is credited with creating the "Washington political procedural" genre.
1959	The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor	A lighter, more traditional choice that followed the 19th-century "adventure" tradition, contrasting with the heavier psychological novels of the era.
1958	A Death in the Family by James Agee	A posthumous win; Agee died of a heart attack at age 45 before the book was fully finished, leaving his editors to compile the final manuscript.
1957	No Award	O'Connor's book was a popular look at Irish-American "machine" politics in Boston, but the Board reportedly found it lacked sufficient "literary we...
1956	Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor	Kantor spent 25 years researching the camp; the book was praised for its "unflinching" realism in depicting the darkest chapter of the Civil War.
1955	A Fable by William Faulkner	Faulkner's most ambitious and difficult work; it won both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award, though many critics found its symbolism heavy-h...
1954	No Award	A controversial decision, as Bellow's novel was already being hailed as a transformative work of American literature; the Board offered no official...
1953	The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway	After being snubbed in 1941, Hemingway finally won for what is often considered his final masterpiece; it helped secure his Nobel Prize in 1954.
1952	The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk	The book spent 122 weeks on the bestseller list and remains the gold standard for "military court" thrillers.
1951	The Town by Conrad Richter	Richter was celebrated for his "archaic" prose style, which used 19th-century idioms to give the book an authentic colonial "flavor."
1950	The Way West by A. B. Guthrie, Jr.	Guthrie sought to strip away the "Hollywood" glamour of the West, providing a gritty, realistic look at the actual mechanics of the Oregon Trail.
1949	Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens	Often cited by critics as the most "technically perfect" American war novel, focusing on the "management" of war rather than just the combat.
1948	Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener	This was Michener's debut; it was famously adapted into the hit Broadway musical "South Pacific" by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
1947	All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren	Warren was a poet-laureate and a key member of the "New Criticism" movement; the novel remains the definitive American book on political demagoguery.
1946	No Award	The Board offered no official explanation for withholding the prize this year, though it came during the transition period immediately following Wo...
1945	A Bell for Adano by John Hersey	Hersey was a war correspondent; his novel showed Americans a sympathetic view of ordinary Italians and questioned the wisdom of military occupation...
1944	Journey in the Dark by Martin Flavin	A largely forgotten novel today, it examined the American Dream's moral costs through the lens of a Midwestern businessman's life spanning the turn...
1943	Dragon's Teeth by Upton Sinclair	Sinclair was already famous for "The Jungle"; this third volume in his 11-book series brought the threat of fascism to American readers during Worl...
1942	In This Our Life by Ellen Glasgow	Glasgow was a grande dame of Southern letters who had been writing for 40 years; this late-career win acknowledged her lifetime achievement in chro...
1941	No Award	This was one of the most controversial "No Award" decisions; the Board reportedly found Hemingway's Spanish Civil War novel too violent and profane...
1940	The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck	Steinbeck's masterpiece of social protest fiction shocked the nation with its depiction of migrant worker exploitation. It was banned in many commu...
1939	The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings	Rawlings lived in rural Florida's scrub country and based her story on the lives of her "Cracker" neighbors. The novel became a beloved children's ...
1938	The Late George Apley by John P. Marquand	Marquand expertly lampooned Boston's upper-class provincialism and social snobbery. The novel-in-letters format allowed him to create a portrait of...
1937	Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell	One of the best-selling novels of all time, Mitchell's only book became a cultural phenomenon. The 1939 film adaptation won eight Academy Awards an...
1936	Honey in the Horn by H. L. Davis	Davis drew on his own childhood in rural Oregon; the novel is celebrated for its authentic depiction of Pacific Northwest pioneer life and its eart...
1935	Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson	Johnson was only 24 when she won, making her one of the youngest Pulitzer recipients. The novel captured the desperation of Depression-era rural Am...
1934	Lamb in His Bosom by Caroline Miller	Miller was a young Georgia housewife who wrote her first novel while raising her children. The book was praised for its lyrical prose and authentic...
1933	The Store by T. S. Stribling	The middle book of Stribling's trilogy examining the South's transformation after the Civil War. Though largely forgotten today, it was praised for...
1932	The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck	Buck grew up in China as the daughter of missionaries and spoke fluent Chinese. This novel made Chinese peasant life accessible to Western readers ...
1931	Years of Grace by Margaret Ayer Barnes	Barnes was a successful playwright who turned to novel-writing after an accident. The book was immensely popular for its detailed chronicle of uppe...
1930	Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge	La Farge was an anthropologist who had lived among the Navajo; his novel was praised as one of the first respectful literary portrayals of Native A...
1929	Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin	Written by a white South Carolina plantation owner's wife, the book was controversial for its intimate portrayal of Gullah community life. Peterkin...
1928	The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder	A massive departure from the previous "American" winners; its philosophical depth made it a global sensation and it remains a staple of high school...
1927	Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield	Bromfield was a "celebrity farmer" and socialite who lived in France; his win reflected the 1920s fascination with the decline of the "Old Guard" P...
1926	Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis	Lewis famously refused the prize because he was still angry that the board had rejected "Main Street" and "Babbitt" in previous years.
1925	So Big by Edna Ferber	Ferber was a powerhouse of mid-century storytelling (also writing "Show Boat" and "Giant"). The book reflects the "get-rich-quick" obsession of the...
1924	The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson	A "pioneer" novel that beat out better-known works of the time; it was praised for its authentic dialect and its depiction of the moral cost of set...
1923	One of Ours by Willa Cather	Cather spent years researching the war through the letters of her cousin who died in France; the book was a massive bestseller despite some critics...
1922	Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington	Tarkington's second win. He was the most successful "mainstream" novelist of his day, perfectly capturing the Midwestern middle-class anxieties of ...
1921	The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton	Wharton was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The jury originally picked Sinclair Lewis's "Main Street," but the board rejecte...
1920	No Award	The jury actually recommended "Java Head" by Joseph Hergesheimer, but the Pulitzer Board overturned the decision, a common occurrence in the early ...
1919	The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington	Tarkington remains one of only four people to win the Pulitzer for Fiction twice. The book was later adapted into a legendary film by Orson Welles.
1918	His Family by Ernest Poole	The very first Pulitzer for a novel. Poole was a socialist journalist; his win signaled the prize's interest in the "changing face" of the American...

2024

Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips

The novel was praised for its historical accuracy and its focus on the "hidden" casualties of war—the mentally ill and the displaced.

2023

Trust by Hernan Diaz

Shared the prize with "Demon Copperhead"; it is a masterclass in "unreliable narration" and the power of money to dictate "the truth."

2023

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Shared the 2023 prize with "Trust"; Kingsolver used Dickens' framework to bring attention to the "forgotten" people of rural Virginia.

2022

The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen

The novel blends historical fact with "slapstick" comedy, exploring the tensions between American-Jewish identity and Zionism.

2021

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

Erdrich finally won after decades of being a finalist; the book is a tribute to the resilience of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

2020

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

With this win, Whitehead became only the fourth person to win two Pulitzers for Fiction, and the first to win them for back-to-back novels.

2019

The Overstory by Richard Powers

Powers used a "tree-like" structure for the narrative, aiming to shift the focus from human drama to the vast, slow life of the natural world.

2018

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

A rare "pure comedy" win for the Pulitzer; it was praised for its wit and its empathetic portrayal of a "failed" gay writer.

2017

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Whitehead won both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award for this novel, becoming one of the few authors to "sweep" the major prizes.

2016

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

A biting satire that challenged the "American" perspective of the Vietnam War, written by an author who came to the U.S. as a refugee.

2015

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

The novel is noted for its extremely short chapters and its "radiant" prose, focusing on the way technology (radio) connected people during the war.

2014

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

A polarizing win; while it was a massive commercial hit, critics like James Wood argued its tone belonged to children's literature, sparking a fier...

2013

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

Johnson spent years researching the "hermit kingdom" to create a surreal but grounded depiction of life under the Kim dynasty.

2012

No Award

The first "No Award" year in 35 years; it caused a massive outcry in the literary world and led to a reform of the Board's voting procedures.

2011

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

The book features a chapter written entirely as a PowerPoint presentation, signaling a new era of formal experimentation for the Pulitzer.

2010

Tinkers by Paul Harding

A massive upset; the book was published by a tiny academic press (Bellevue Literary Press) and had a very small initial print run.

2009

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Strout's win proved the power of the "interconnected story" format; the book was later adapted into a multi-Emmy-winning miniseries.

2008

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

The novel is famous for its "Spanglish" prose and footnoted historical asides, blending pop culture nerdery with political tragedy.

2007

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

A rare win for "post-apocalyptic" fiction; the book's sparse, punctuation-free prose became instantly iconic and was a selection for Oprah's Book C...

2006

March by Geraldine Brooks

Brooks, an Australian-American journalist, used her experience as a war correspondent to depict the brutal reality of the Civil War camps.

2005

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

The first of the "Gilead" series; it is celebrated for its spiritual depth and its beautiful, luminous prose regarding faith and fathers.

2004

The Known World by Edward P. Jones

Jones famously wrote the entire complex structure of the book in his head over several years before putting a single word on paper.

2003

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

The novel was a massive bestseller and a critical success for its daring exploration of gender identity and the "American melting pot" myth.

2002

Empire Falls by Richard Russo

Russo was praised as the "heir to Dickens" for his ability to write about class and economics with warmth and humor.

2001

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

The novel helped elevate "genre" topics (comics and magic) to the status of serious literary fiction in the eyes of major award boards.

2000

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

A rare debut collection win; Lahiri was just 32 years old when she won, making her one of the youngest recipients in history.

1999

The Hours by Michael Cunningham

A masterpiece of intertextuality; it was later adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, and Julianne Moore.

1998

American Pastoral by Philip Roth

This was Roth's first Pulitzer; it is the first book in his "American Trilogy" exploring the postwar American psyche.

1997

Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser

A surprise win for a short, stylized novel that reads more like a fairy tale than the gritty realism usually favored by the Board.

1996

Independence Day by Richard Ford

The first book to win both the Pulitzer and the PEN/Faulkner Award in the same year; it is the second book in Ford's "Bascombe" tetralogy.

1995

The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

Shields was born in America but lived in Canada; the book is unique for including "artifacts" like family trees and fake photographs.

1994

The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx

Proulx's win was notable for its unique, "choppy" prose style and its celebration of a remote, rugged landscape and its eccentric people.

1993

A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler

Butler, a Vietnam veteran, was praised for his "empathic leap" in writing from the first-person perspective of Vietnamese refugees.

1992

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

The novel was a landmark for 90s feminism, shifting the perspective from the "patriarch" to the daughters and revealing hidden family traumas.

1991

Rabbit at Rest by John Updike

Updike became one of only three writers to win two Pulitzers for the same series of characters (the other being Booth Tarkington).

1990

The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos

Hijuelos was the first Hispanic author to win the Pulitzer for Fiction; the book is a lush, rhythmic tribute to the era of the Mambo.

1989

Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler

Tyler is known as the "master of the mundane"; she was praised for finding the profound beauty and tragedy in the lives of "average" Baltimore resi...

1988

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Morrison's win followed a public protest by 48 Black writers in the NYT who were outraged that her earlier work had been overlooked by major prizes.

1987

A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor

Taylor was a master of "The Southern Gentility" story; this win late in his life was seen as a tribute to his career-long focus on the domestic ten...

1986

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

McMurtry sought to "de-mythologize" the West, but the book became so beloved that it actually reinvigorated the Western myth for a new generation.

1985

Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie

Lurie was praised for her "intellectual" wit; the novel is a sharp critique of the academic world and the romantic myths Americans have about England.

1984

Ironweed by William Kennedy

Kennedy had three novels rejected by numerous publishers before "Ironweed" was picked up; the win put Albany on the literary map.

1983

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Walker was the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer for Fiction; the book was later adapted into both an iconic film and a Broadway musical.

1982

Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike

Updike is one of only four authors to win two Pulitzers for Fiction; he is celebrated for his "microscopic" attention to the details of American do...

1981

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

A tragic and famous win; Toole died by suicide 11 years before publication. His mother tirelessly campaigned to get the book published, eventually ...

1980

The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer

A controversial choice for the Fiction category since it was based on real events; it defined the "True Crime" genre as a high-art literary form.

1979

The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever

Cheever was often called "the O'Hara of the suburbs"; this win was a crowning achievement for a writer who had spent 40 years mastering the short s...

1978

Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson

McPherson was the first Black author to win the Pulitzer for Fiction; he was famously private and focused on the craft of the "unclassifiable" Amer...

1977

No Award

Maclean was 73 when his debut was snubbed; the book eventually became a beloved classic and a major motion picture.

1976

Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow

The win helped propel Bellow to the Nobel Prize in Literature later that same year; the character of Humboldt was based on Bellow's real-life frien...

1975

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

Shaara had trouble even finding a publisher for the book; after his death, it became a massive bestseller and the basis for the film "Gettysburg."

1974

No Award

This is perhaps the most famous snub in Pulitzer history; it led many to question whether the Board was too out of touch with contemporary literature.

1973

The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty

Welty finally won after decades of being one of America's most respected writers; the book is a masterclass in economy and emotional precision.

1972

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

Stegner based the book on the real letters of Mary Hallock Foote; the novel is considered a masterpiece of the "Western" literary tradition.

1971

No Award

The 1970s saw frequent "No Award" years as the Board struggled to keep pace with the increasingly experimental and bold nature of modern fiction.

1970

The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford

Stafford was a master of the New Yorker-style story; her win reflected the high status of short fiction in the late 60s literary world.

1969

House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday

This win is credited with launching the "Native American Renaissance" in literature, breaking the long-standing invisibility of Indigenous authors ...

1968

The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron

The book was a massive bestseller but sparked a firestorm of controversy; many Black critics and historians denounced Styron (a white man) for his ...

1967

The Fixer by Bernard Malamud

Malamud used the historical Beilis case as a metaphor for the 1960s Civil Rights struggle, exploring the universal nature of injustice.

1966

The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter by Katherine Anne Porter

Porter won both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award for this collection, proving that the "short story" was as vital to American letters as th...

1965

The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau

Grau faced significant backlash in the South for the book's themes; she even received threats from the KKK after the Pulitzer win.

1964

No Award

This was a peak era of friction between the specialized literary juries and the more conservative Pulitzer Board.

1963

The Reivers by William Faulkner

A posthumous win for Faulkner; it is one of his most accessible and lighthearted works, contrasting sharply with his earlier, darker tragedies.

1962

The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O'Connor

O'Connor finally won after being snubbed by the board in 1957; the book is praised for its authentic portrayal of the "ordinariness" of the priesth...

1961

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Lee's only novel for over 50 years; it became one of the most beloved books in American history and was adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring...

1960

Advise and Consent by Allen Drury

The book stayed on the bestseller list for 102 weeks and is credited with creating the "Washington political procedural" genre.

1959

The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor

A lighter, more traditional choice that followed the 19th-century "adventure" tradition, contrasting with the heavier psychological novels of the era.

1958

A Death in the Family by James Agee

A posthumous win; Agee died of a heart attack at age 45 before the book was fully finished, leaving his editors to compile the final manuscript.

1957

No Award

O'Connor's book was a popular look at Irish-American "machine" politics in Boston, but the Board reportedly found it lacked sufficient "literary we...

1956

Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor

Kantor spent 25 years researching the camp; the book was praised for its "unflinching" realism in depicting the darkest chapter of the Civil War.

1955

A Fable by William Faulkner

Faulkner's most ambitious and difficult work; it won both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award, though many critics found its symbolism heavy-h...

1954

No Award

A controversial decision, as Bellow's novel was already being hailed as a transformative work of American literature; the Board offered no official...

1953

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

After being snubbed in 1941, Hemingway finally won for what is often considered his final masterpiece; it helped secure his Nobel Prize in 1954.

1952

The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk

The book spent 122 weeks on the bestseller list and remains the gold standard for "military court" thrillers.

1951

The Town by Conrad Richter

Richter was celebrated for his "archaic" prose style, which used 19th-century idioms to give the book an authentic colonial "flavor."

1950

The Way West by A. B. Guthrie, Jr.

Guthrie sought to strip away the "Hollywood" glamour of the West, providing a gritty, realistic look at the actual mechanics of the Oregon Trail.

1949

Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens

Often cited by critics as the most "technically perfect" American war novel, focusing on the "management" of war rather than just the combat.

1948

Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener

This was Michener's debut; it was famously adapted into the hit Broadway musical "South Pacific" by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

1947

All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

Warren was a poet-laureate and a key member of the "New Criticism" movement; the novel remains the definitive American book on political demagoguery.

1946

No Award

The Board offered no official explanation for withholding the prize this year, though it came during the transition period immediately following Wo...

1945

A Bell for Adano by John Hersey

Hersey was a war correspondent; his novel showed Americans a sympathetic view of ordinary Italians and questioned the wisdom of military occupation...

1944

Journey in the Dark by Martin Flavin

A largely forgotten novel today, it examined the American Dream's moral costs through the lens of a Midwestern businessman's life spanning the turn...

1943

Dragon's Teeth by Upton Sinclair

Sinclair was already famous for "The Jungle"; this third volume in his 11-book series brought the threat of fascism to American readers during Worl...

1942

In This Our Life by Ellen Glasgow

Glasgow was a grande dame of Southern letters who had been writing for 40 years; this late-career win acknowledged her lifetime achievement in chro...

1941

No Award

This was one of the most controversial "No Award" decisions; the Board reportedly found Hemingway's Spanish Civil War novel too violent and profane...

1940

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Steinbeck's masterpiece of social protest fiction shocked the nation with its depiction of migrant worker exploitation. It was banned in many commu...

1939

The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Rawlings lived in rural Florida's scrub country and based her story on the lives of her "Cracker" neighbors. The novel became a beloved children's ...

1938

The Late George Apley by John P. Marquand

Marquand expertly lampooned Boston's upper-class provincialism and social snobbery. The novel-in-letters format allowed him to create a portrait of...

1937

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

One of the best-selling novels of all time, Mitchell's only book became a cultural phenomenon. The 1939 film adaptation won eight Academy Awards an...

1936

Honey in the Horn by H. L. Davis

Davis drew on his own childhood in rural Oregon; the novel is celebrated for its authentic depiction of Pacific Northwest pioneer life and its eart...

1935

Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson

Johnson was only 24 when she won, making her one of the youngest Pulitzer recipients. The novel captured the desperation of Depression-era rural Am...

1934

Lamb in His Bosom by Caroline Miller

Miller was a young Georgia housewife who wrote her first novel while raising her children. The book was praised for its lyrical prose and authentic...

1933

The Store by T. S. Stribling

The middle book of Stribling's trilogy examining the South's transformation after the Civil War. Though largely forgotten today, it was praised for...

1932

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

Buck grew up in China as the daughter of missionaries and spoke fluent Chinese. This novel made Chinese peasant life accessible to Western readers ...

1931

Years of Grace by Margaret Ayer Barnes

Barnes was a successful playwright who turned to novel-writing after an accident. The book was immensely popular for its detailed chronicle of uppe...

1930

Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge

La Farge was an anthropologist who had lived among the Navajo; his novel was praised as one of the first respectful literary portrayals of Native A...

1929

Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin

Written by a white South Carolina plantation owner's wife, the book was controversial for its intimate portrayal of Gullah community life. Peterkin...

1928

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder

A massive departure from the previous "American" winners; its philosophical depth made it a global sensation and it remains a staple of high school...

1927

Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield

Bromfield was a "celebrity farmer" and socialite who lived in France; his win reflected the 1920s fascination with the decline of the "Old Guard" P...

1926

Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis

Lewis famously refused the prize because he was still angry that the board had rejected "Main Street" and "Babbitt" in previous years.

1925

So Big by Edna Ferber

Ferber was a powerhouse of mid-century storytelling (also writing "Show Boat" and "Giant"). The book reflects the "get-rich-quick" obsession of the...

1924

The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson

A "pioneer" novel that beat out better-known works of the time; it was praised for its authentic dialect and its depiction of the moral cost of set...

1923

One of Ours by Willa Cather

Cather spent years researching the war through the letters of her cousin who died in France; the book was a massive bestseller despite some critics...

1922

Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington

Tarkington's second win. He was the most successful "mainstream" novelist of his day, perfectly capturing the Midwestern middle-class anxieties of ...

1921

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Wharton was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The jury originally picked Sinclair Lewis's "Main Street," but the board rejecte...

1920

No Award

The jury actually recommended "Java Head" by Joseph Hergesheimer, but the Pulitzer Board overturned the decision, a common occurrence in the early ...

1919

The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington

Tarkington remains one of only four people to win the Pulitzer for Fiction twice. The book was later adapted into a legendary film by Orson Welles.

1918

His Family by Ernest Poole

The very first Pulitzer for a novel. Poole was a socialist journalist; his win signaled the prize's interest in the "changing face" of the American...

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Winners