The 2024 Pulitzer Prize winners have been announced, showcasing the pinnacle of literary achievement and storytelling brilliance. From compelling novels to thought-provoking non-fiction, this year's honorees offer a diverse array of voices and narratives that captivate, challenge, and inspire readers. We explore the standout books that have earned the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, celebrating the authors' remarkable contributions to literature and their profound impact on the literary landscape.
Fiction
Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips (Knopf)
Set in West Virginia's Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum after the Civil War, this beautifully rendered novel follows a severely wounded Union veteran, a 12-year-old girl, and her mother who face abuse from a Confederate soldier and their journey of healing
History
No Right to an Honest Living: The Struggles of Boston's Black Workers in the Civil War Era by Jacqueline Jones (Basic Books)
A historian and two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Jacqueline Jones is again honored for its groundbreaking depiction of free Black life in Boston. The book offers a profound reexamination of the city's abolitionist history and the challenging realities faced by its Black community. Despite its reputation for antislavery rhetoric and as a hub of abolitionism, the city subjected Black residents to "casual cruelty" in the workforce, condemning them to lives of poverty without equal employment opportunities.
Biography
King: A Life by Jonathan Eig (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
This comprehensive study of the civil rights icon,Martin Luther King, delves into a wealth of recently released White House telephone transcripts, F.B.I. documents, letters, oral histories, and other materials. Eig demonstrates a masterly command of his research, revealing King in intimate moments and challenging the misconception that his commitment to nonviolence equated to passivity.
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo (Simon & Schuster)
The incredible true tale of Ellen and William Craft unfolds with daring, determination, and deception, as Ellen assumes the guise of a wealthy, disabled white man while William masquerades as his enslaved servant. In the tumultuous year of 1848, amidst a global wave of democratic uprisings, the courageous enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved an unprecedented act of self-liberation. United by their love and resolve as spouses, they embarked on a perilous journey spanning over 1,000 miles. Posing as master and slave, they navigated steamboats, carriages, and trains, traversing from the shackles of bondage in Georgia to the promise of freedom in the Northern states.
Memoir or Autobiography
Liliana's Invincible Summer: A Sister's Search for Justice by Cristina Rivera Garza (Hogarth)
For twenty-nine years, three months, and two days, Cristina has carried the weight of Liliana's murder at the hands of her abusive ex-boyfriend. Fueled by the global outcry against femicide and intimate partner violence, she sets out on a journey for justice. The book chronicles this quest—an amalgamation of resilience, fury, and determination. Drawing upon her talents as a distinguished scholar, novelist, and poet, Rivera Garza meticulously gathers and presents evidence—handwritten letters, police reports, school notebooks, and poignant interviews with Liliana’s nearest and dearest—to immortalize her sister's life. In this extraordinary and boundary-breaking memoir, she grapples with the haunting trauma of loss while exploring how this profound tragedy continues to define her identity and her ongoing battles for justice.
Poetry
Tripas: Poems by Brandon Som (Georgia Review Books)
In Tripas, Brandon Som expands upon the success of his award-winning debut by crafting a collection of poems rooted in his multicultural, multigenerational childhood home. Here, he pays homage to his Chicana grandmother, who toiled through nights on the Motorola assembly line, as well as his Chinese American father and grandparents, stewards of the family corner store. Through a cómo se dice poetics, a poetic dialogue that intricately weaves together heritage languages and familial recollections, Som engages in a form of poetic memoir. Each poem serves as a conduit for the intersection of history, labor, and languages, while also facilitating a cultural "telephone" exchange.
General Nonfiction
A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy by Nathan Thrall (Metropolitan Books)
This meticulously researched and deeply personal narrative provides a poignant glimpse into life under Israeli occupation in the West Bank. Through the lens of a grieving Palestinian father, it sheds light on the complexities and challenges faced when tragedy strikes amidst the backdrop of political turmoil, as evidenced by the delays encountered by Israeli and Palestinian rescue teams due to stringent security regulations. Abed, the five-year-old Milad Salama's father, receives news of the accident of Salama's school bus, only to encounter chaos—children scattered across hospitals in Jerusalem and the West Bank, some missing, others unidentifiable. Thus begins Abed's harrowing journey to uncover the fate of his beloved son.
Words Platform Desk
Date 15.05.2024