Pulitzer Prize Finalists 2025

The Pulitzer Prizes, which are administered at Columbia University, were established by Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian American journalist and newspaper publisher who left money to the university upon his death. A portion of his bequest was used to establish the Pulitzer Prize as an incentive to excellence, and the first awards were given in 1917. Joseph Pulitzer specified solely four awards in journalism, four in books and drama, one for education, and five traveling scholarships. Since then, the Pulitzer Prize board has increased the number of awards to 23 and introduced poetry, music, photography, memoir, and audio journalism as subjects.

Below are the 2025 finalists and winners in the TBP collection under the category of Letters and Drama Prizes. The winners were announced on May 5.

For more information check the Awards’ Website.

Fiction

JAMES by Percival Everett (DB 120063, BR 25513 IN PROCESS, LB 0000436, en español DB 127871 en proceso)
HEADSHOT by Rita Bullwinkel (DB 124703)

History

NATIVE NATIONS: A MILLENNIUM IN NORTH AMERICA by Kathleen DuVal (DB 121149)

Biography

EVERY LIVING THING: THE GREAT AND DEADLY RACE TO KNOW ALL LIFE
by Jason Roberts (DB 120621)
JOHN LEWIS: A LIFE by David Greenberg (DB 125436, BR 25696 IN PROCESS,
LB 0003598)

Memoir or Autobiography

FI: A MEMOIR by Alexandra Fuller (DB 121448)

Pulitzer Prize Finalists 2024

The Pulitzer Prizes, administered at Columbia University, were established by Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-American journalist and newspaper publisher who left money to Columbia upon his death. A portion of his bequest was used to establish the Pulitzer Prize as an incentive to excellence. First awarded in 1917, Pulitzer specified solely four awards in journalism, four in books and drama, one for education, and five traveling scholarships. Since then, the Pulitzer Prize Board has increased the number of awards to 23 and introduced poetry, music, photography, memoir, and audio journalism as subjects. Below are the 2024 finalists and winners in the TBP collection under the category of Letters and Drama Prizes. The winners were announced on May 6.

For more information check the Awards’ Website.

Fiction

NIGHT WATCH by Jayne Anne Phillips
DB 117272
SAME BED DIFFERENT DREAMS by Ed Park
DB 117270

Biography

KING: A LIFE by Jonathan Eig
DB 115189, BR 25331
MASTER SLAVE HUSBAND WIFE: AN EPIC JOURNEY FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM by Ilyon Woo DB 112758

Memoir or Autobiography

LILIANA’S INVINCIBLE SUMMER: A SISTER’S SEARCH FOR JUSTICE by Cristina Rivera Garza
DB 115091, en espanol DB 107986
BEST MINDS: A STORY OF FRIENDSHIP, MADNESS, AND THE TRAGEDY OF GOOD INTENTIONS by Jonathan Rosen
DB 114107
COUNTRY OF THE BLIND: A MEMOIR AT THE END OF SIGHT by Andrew Leland
DB 115575, BR 25166

General Nonfiction

DAY IN THE LIFE OF ABED SALAMA: ANATOMY OF A JERUSALEM TRAGEDY by Nathan Thrall
DB 118265
COBALT RED: HOW THE BLOOD OF THE CONGO POWERS OUR LIVES by Kara Siddharth
DB 112317
FIRE WEATHER: A TRUE STORY FROM A HOTTER WORLD by John Vaillant
DB 116220