After last year’s Pulitzer Prize in Music went to rapper Kendrick Lamar for his 2017 album DAMN., some were expecting another highly publicized award. Alas, PrezBo must’ve run out of cool celebrities he hasn’t met as this year’s prizes have mostly gone to incredibly talented, hardworking journalists and photographers. Yawn. Here were the winners announced today. 

Champagne is being spilled in newsrooms across America as writers, photographers, and musicians celebrate following the announcement of the 103rd Pulitzer Prizes in Pulitzer Hall today. Where else? Notable wins include Brent Staples of the New York Times for his haunting writing on the legacy of slavery for Black people in America, the staff of Baton Rouge’s The Advocate, whose reporting helped to change Louisiana’s non-unanimous jury law, and the photography staff of Reuters for their narrative photographs of Central and South American migrants struggling to reach a better life in the United States.

Below are all the winners from each category:

Journalism:

  • Public Service: South Florida Sun Sentinel
  • Breaking News Reporting: Staff of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  • Investigative Reporting: Matt Hamilton, Harriet Ryan and Paul Pringle of the Los Angeles Times
  • Explanatory Reporting: David Barstow, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner of The New York Times
  • Local Reporting: Staff of The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.
  • National Reporting: Staff of The Wall Street Journal
  • International Reporting: Maggie Michael, Maad al-Zikry and Nariman El-Mofty of Associated Press and Staff of Reuters, with notable contributions from Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo
  • Feature Writing: Hannah Dreier of ProPublica
  • Commentary: Tony Messenger of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  • Criticism: Carlos Lozada of The Washington Post
  • Editorial Writing: Brent Staples of The New York Times
  • Editorial Cartooning: Darrin Bell, freelancer
  • Breaking News Photography: Photography Staff of Reuters
  • Feature Photography: Lorenzo Tugnoli of The Washington Post

Letters, Drama, and Music:

  • Fiction: The Overstory, by Richard Powers (W.W. Norton)
  • Drama: Fairview, by Jackie Sibblies Drury
  • History: Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, by David W. Blight (Simon & Schuster)
  • Biography: The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke, by Jeffrey C. Stewart (Oxford University Press)
  • Poetry: Be With, by Forrest Gander (New Directions)
  • General Nonfiction: Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America, by Eliza Griswold (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
  • Music: p r i s m, by Ellen Reid

Special Citations:

  • Aretha Franklin
    • For her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades.
  • Capital Gazette, Annapolis, Md.
    • A special citation to honor the journalists, staff and editorial board of the Capital Gazette, Annapolis, Maryland, for their courageous response to the largest killing of journalists in U.S. history in their newsroom on June 28, 2018, and for demonstrating unflagging commitment to covering the news and serving their community at a time of unspeakable grief. The citation comes with a $100,000 bequest by the Pulitzer Board to be used to further the newspaper’s journalistic mission.

 

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Screenshot via Pulitzer Livestream