Books
The Nonfiction Books That Won 2019 Pulitzer Prizes Delve Into Race & American History
Pulitzer Administrator Dana Canedy announced the 2019 Pulitzer Prize winners at Columbia University's School of Journalism on Monday afternoon, and Bustle's got all the information you need to know about the 2019 nonfiction winners below.
The Pulitzer Prize is separated into two competitions: Journalism and Letters, Drama & Music. While both are equally prestigious, it is the the Letters, Drama & Music competition that book-lovers will find particularly interesting, because — in addition to a Music award — it contains five honors for Fiction, Drama, History, Biography or Autobiography, Poetry, and General Nonfiction. And if you're planning to keep up with the literary Joneses this year (or just step up your spring and summer reading lists) you're going to want to get your hands on all of the Pulitzer Prize-winning books as soon as possible.
The three nonfiction winners — Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America by Eliza Griswold, The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke by Jeffrey C. Stewart, and Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight — delve into issues of race, economics, and American history. You will see the country in a brand new light after reading through these books, no doubt about it.
Check out the full list of winners here, and see below for more information on 2019's Pulitzer Prize-winning nonfiction books:
The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction: 'Amity and Prosperity' by Eliza Griswold
Poet and journalist Eliza Griswold's Amity and Prosperity is an exposé on how fracking shattered a rural Pennsylvania town, and how lifelong resident Stacey Haney brought the story into the national spotlight.
The Pulitzer Prize for Biography: 'The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke' by Jeffrey C. Stewart
In The New Negro, Jeffrey C. Stewart examines the father of the Harlem Renaissance, Alain Locke, in a riveting microhistory about the man and the movement.
The Pulitzer Prize for History: 'Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom' by David W. Blight
This is the definitive biography of Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave who became the greatest orator of his day and one of the leading abolitionists and writers of the 19th century.
