The Los Angeles Times took the coveted Public Service Pulitzer, today. The paper won the prize for its stories about the city of Bell, California and the exorbitant salaries of its elected officials.
In the Fiction category, Jennifer Egan's A Visit From the Goon Squad took the prize. NPR's Lynn Neary picked the book — a series of stories stiched together by fleeting moments — as one of her favorites of 2010. She wrote:
Egan is playing with the idea of the novel, and the result is a swirling time trip that is both fun and emotionally satisfying. One of the most effective and affecting stories in the book comes in the form of a power point presentation narrated by a 12-year-old girl. That feat in itself is a testament to Egan's powers as a writer.
Back in June, NPR.org posted an excerpt from the book.
The Pulitzer Prize board announced the winners at Columbia University. The AP reports that the board decided not to award a prize in the Breaking News category in a year that had two major breaking news stories: the earthquake in Haiti and the Gulf oil spill.
The Washington Post did take home a Breaking News Photography Pulitzer for the images taken in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.
A full list of winners and finalists is posted on the Pulitzer site, but here are the highlights:
Drama: "Awarded to "Clybourne Park" by Bruce Norris, a powerful work whose memorable characters speak in witty and perceptive ways to America's sometimes toxic struggle with race and class consciousness."
Investigative Reporting: "Awarded to Paige St. John of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune for her examination of weaknesses in the murky property-insurance system vital to Florida homeowners, providing handy data to assess insurer reliability and stirring regulatory action."
Music: Madame White Snake by Zhou Long
Feature Photography: "Awarded to Barbara Davidson of the Los Angeles Times for her intimate story of innocent victims trapped in the city's crossfire of deadly gang violence."
Update at 3:29 p.m. ET: Newly minted Pulitzer Prize winner for Feature Writing, Amy Ellis Nutt, of the Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., is on Fresh Air today. She's talking about a book based on her Pulitzer-finalist series "The Accidental Artist."
Update at 5:31 p.m. ET: NPR has also posted the complete list of winners and finalists here.
Update at 7:13 p.m. ET: Because a reader mentioned it in the comments, we'll add: ProPublica won a Pulitzer in National Reporting for "exposing questionable practices on Wall Street that contributed to the U.S. economic meltdown." That reporting was done in partnership with NPR's Planet Money and Public Radio International's This American Life. Broadcast organizations, however, are not eligible for Pulitzers.
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