Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.
~ Joseph Pulitzer
The 2009 Pulitzer Prize winners represent the best in Journalism, Letters, Drama & Music, a tradition begun in 1917 as a bequest of Joseph Pulitzer. Pulitzer, a newspaper publisher who spent his life fighting tirelessly to expose corruption in business and government, wished the Pulitzer Prize to exemplify that struggle; to be, in his own words, “an incentive to excellence.”
Journalism
It is perhaps in the Journalism awards that the spirit of the Pulitzers is best represented. The majority of these awards over the years have gone to newspapers and reporters who have battled corruption both on an individual and a global level. The following papers were honored this year:
History
In History, Annette Gordon-Reed’s The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family examines the controversial question of Jefferson’s relationship with Sally Hemmings, a young slave woman in his possession. Gordon-Reed presents a compelling if not conclusive case for Jefferson’s involvement with Hemmings; however, despite the evidence, we are still left wondering at his motivations. Jefferson’s actions so blatantly contradict his clearly articulated ideas on the very nature of freedom. In the end he remains an enigma and the book’s allegations an open question.
The Pulitzer Prize in History
Biography
Jon Meacham, author and editor of Newsweek, earned the prize in Biography for American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. Jackson, a Populist candidate who sought to overthrow what he perceived to be corrupt and moneyed interests, is a subject much in keeping with the Pulitzer tradition.
A History of Biography Pulitzers
Poetry
We are asleep with compasses in our hands
WS Merwin captured the Poetry prize a second time for The Shadow of Sirius. Merwin has journeyed from the anti-war sentiments of 1971′s The Carrier of Ladders to a balanced and sober reflection.
with the animals dying around us
our lost feelings we are saying thank you
with the forests falling faster than the minutes
of our lives we are saying thank you
with the words going out like cells of a brain
with the cities growing over us
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
we are saying thank you and waving
dark though it is
Previous Poetry Winners
Fiction
In Fiction, Elizabeth Strout won for Olive Kitteridge, a collection of 13 short stories set in rural Maine. She joins a long, illustrious group of past Pulitzer Prize winners.
Drama
Lynn Nottage earned the Drama award for Ruined, set in the violence and chaos of the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Past Pulitzer Prize Winners for Drama
Photography
The two prizes in photography went to Damon Winter for his visceral coverage of Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign.
Obama in Chester, PA ~ Damon Winter
and
Patrick Farrell for
A People in Despair: Haiti’s year without mercy, a harrowing depiction of Haiti after the devastation of Hurricane Ike.
Woman in Cabaret Weeps ~ Patrick Farrell
View the Complete List of 2009 Pulitzer Prize Winners
In 1984, he was honored with the 
