What is the Pulitzer Prize and for which it is awarded. Famous winners of the Pulitzer Prize

Today the Pulitzer Prize is one of the most famous and, as a result, prestigious world awards in journalism, photojournalism, music, literature and theatrical art. It was approved on August 17, 1903 by Joseph Pulitzer, who was a famous American publisher and journalist, whose name is still associated with the genesis of the "yellow press" genre.

Joseph Pulitzer was born in April 1847 in Hungary. Having emigrated to the United States at seventeen, he bought up two well-known American newspapers in 1878 - St. Louis Dispatch and St. Louis Post, and formed a new periodical, St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Convinced of the power of the press over human minds, Pulitzer uses his publication to publish the most controversial and controversial articles that contain criticism of the actions of the authorities. Soon, its publication becomes one of the most profitable and influential in the west of the United States. In 1883, he bought the New York World and turned it into a popular newspaper full of political news, supplemented by comics and illustrations. Joseph Pulitzer is creating a journalism faculty and establishing a famous award for the profits from the publication of newspapers.

Traditionally, the Pulitzer Prize is awarded on the first Monday in May by members of the Columbia University of the United States for outstanding services in the field of literature and journalism. The size of the award for most of the nominations is ten thousand dollars. Separately, the category "For serving the society" is marked, the winner of which receives not only a monetary reward, but also a gold medal "For a worthy service to society".

In total, there are currently around 25 different nominations, of which 14 are directly related to journalism. Annually, special attention is paid to literary awards in six categories: "For an art book written by an American writer about America", "For a biography or an autobiography of an American author", "For a book on US history", "For a better drama", "For a poem" and "For non-fiction literature." According to historical reports, the Pulitzer Prize (books) was not awarded ten times, as the jury of the contest could not find any literary work worthy of awarding.

History of appearance

As already mentioned, the Pulitzer Prize arose in 1903, when Joseph Pulitzer's will was drafted. For the first time it was awarded in 1917. According to the agreement between Columbia University (under the auspices of the journalism faculty of which the annual award is held) and Pulitzer, the money part of the award is the annual income that the Pulitzer Foundation generates due to a two-million-dollar donation to the university. Thus, the annual bonus money is about 550 thousand dollars. In addition to the donations of the merchant himself, in 1970 another fund was created, which attracts additional funds to pay this prestigious prize.

The number of nominations and awards over time also only increases. Thus, in 1922, the first prize for the best cartoon appeared, and in 1942 the first award for the best photo was awarded. A little later there were nominations for the best musical compositions and theatrical productions. In addition, since May 2006, not only paper but also electronic works are considered among applicants for the Pulitzer Prize.

Jury of the contest

Pulitzer Prize is awarded by the Board of Trustees of Columbia University on the results of the Advisory Board. It is to this body that the decisive vote is in determining the winners. Members of the Advisory Council develop criteria for awarding the prize.

Initially, the council consisted of only thirteen participants, but by mid-1990 there were already seventeen people. To date, the Pulitzer Committee includes 19 experts, among which there is an administrator of the award, five well-known publishers, one columnist, six editors and six scientists.

The activity of the competition committee of the award is constantly criticized by the public. Every year, the jury receives many accusations of bias and subjectivity in awarding an honorable award. However, according to the will of the creator of the Pulitzer Prize, it is impossible to change the procedure of this procedure.

Awarding process

According to the charter of the award, in order to receive a nomination in the field of journalism, it is necessary to submit the material in paper form no later than February 1 of the current year. For literary works, the extreme date is the first of July last year for books published from January to June; And the first of November for books released from July to December.

It is interesting that nominations for journalism can be claimed on behalf of any person throughout the entire bonus period. The main thing is that the proposal should be provided with copies of documents confirming the candidate's right to receive the prize. As for literature, the Council must provide four copies of the nominated book for review. A similar order is used in the evaluation of many literary prizes in Russia. But musical and dramatic works can be nominated for the award not later than March 1 of this year, and only on the condition that all jury members are familiar with their public performance.

Decisions on awarding are made by specially appointed universities for each category by jury members. Each jury must draw up a list of three candidates and pass it to the Pulitzer Prize Council. The Council, in turn, studies all the materials submitted to it, including written sources, recommendations and works of nominees, and afterwards sends its own references for approval to the Board of Trustees of Columbia University. Trustees receive the choice of the Council and immediately announce the names of the winners, without waiting for an official award ceremony. It should be noted that neither the trustees nor the members of the jury can influence the choice of the Council. Its members decide on awarding any nominee, regardless of the recommendations of the jury. At the same time, none of the trustees, members of the jury or the Council has the right to participate in the discussion or vote, if the prize awarded by them affects their personal interests. Membership in the Council is limited to three terms of 3 years each, and vacancies are filled by closed voting, in which all the current members of the Council are required to participate.

The most famous Pulitzer Prize laureates

Since the inception of this prize, many writers and journalists have become its laureates, among which there were both widely known and not recognized public authors. The first prize winner was American journalist Herbert Bayard, who was awarded such a prestigious prize for a series of articles under the general title "From Within the German Empire".

In different years, the literary prize was awarded to such works as "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell, "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway, and also Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird". At the same time, most of the books that received the Pulitzer Prize have never been among the bestsellers, just as award-winning theater plays have never been staged on a broad stage.

As for foreign laureates of the Pulitzer Prize, the first such nominee was Russian journalist Artem Borovik with his report "Room 19" on the activities of the Institute of the Brain. Also in April 2011, the award was presented to Anna Politkovskaya for a detailed chronicle of the war in the Chechen Republic. Another Russian journalist, Alexander Zemlyanichenko, twice won the award for his reporting on the Moscow coup in 1991 and photographs of Boris Yeltsin.

Pulitzer Prize in Literature. Main features of awarding

As noted earlier, the Pulitzer Prize winners in literature, unlike the winners in other nominations, are not always well-known and generally recognized writers. And although the panel of judges is often accused of incompetence and scam. This is largely due to the fact that its members strictly follow the rules drawn up by Joseph Pulitzer himself, according to which this award, like some of the literary prizes of Russia, is awarded only to those writers who have dedicated their books to the life and history of the United States.

Often, the work that receives awards, have low literary value, but accurately and reliably describe life in the outback or tell, for example, about the personal problems of American teenagers. That is why these literary prizes are broken not by genre, but by a temporary principle. Each year, the jury selects several works that best describe the present and the past of the United States.

Recognition of the merits of journalists

Pulitzer Prize of Journalism is the most important and prestigious award for American periodicals. It includes a number of nominations in which the speed and reliability in reporting events are assessed, as well as the personal contribution of journalists to their work. It is interesting that in this case the laureates of the prize are not only individuals, but entire editions.

This, perhaps, is the most predictable Pulitzer Prize. Laureates in this case are always known in advance, and it is not difficult to predict the results of voting. At the same time, this nomination is also considered the quietest in terms of high-profile scandals and accusations. Most critics agree that all the laureates of this award received their awards quite deservedly and legally.

Music and theatrical art

In the field of music, the Pulitzer Prize is awarded at a rate of three thousand dollars. It is awarded for the outstanding work of the American composer, created in any large form. These are any orchestral, choral and chamber works, operas and other compositions.

In addition to the music award, there are special scholarships in the amount of five thousand dollars, which are awarded to outstanding graduates of the journalism faculty, who have expressed a desire to specialize in music, theater, film or literary criticism.

Pulitzer Theater Awards have a prize pool of $ 3,000. They are awarded both to well-known famous directors, and to very young directors, working on plays in diverse genres. As in the case of literature, many of the works received the recognition of a high jury have never been shown to the general public and have never been staged on Broadway.

Award for Shooting

Pulitzer Prize deservedly considered one of the most desired for the photographer. For many, it means much more than a simple monetary reward. It is a recognition of their merits, the value of daily work. At the same time, controversy continues around this nomination. Public opinion is extremely controversial, and many people are not sure whether this Pulitzer Prize is needed at all. Photos, which she is awarded, often go beyond the boundaries of conventional art. Most of the works are devoted to either little-known or already ugly problems. Professionals exhibit on the open display personal dramas and the broken destinies of people. Therefore, most photos leave a heavy residue after viewing.

Often criticized not only work, but also the photographers themselves. They are accused of shooting horrific events, instead of helping people in trouble. So, for example, Kevin Kartar, who received the award for a series of photos called Hunger in Sudan, depicts a hungry girl and a huge condor waiting for her death, committed suicide two months after the award.

Laureates of the award in 2014

On April 14, 2014 the results were summed up and the names of the owners of the next Pulitzer Prize were announced. Thus, Donna Tartt and her novel "Goldfinch", who tells the story of a fourteen-year-old boy wandering around Manhattan after the death of her material, became the laureate of the literature prize. This work also became the first in the list of one hundred of the best books of the year according to the data of the online store "Amazon" at the end of 2013.

The theatrical award was given to Annie Baker for her play "Flick", presented in the category "Dramatic work". In the nomination "Music" the award was awarded to John Luther Adams for the song "Becoming the Ocean".

As for journalism, in the category of "Serving the Society", the award went to the publications "Guardian" and "Washington Post", which conducted investigations of the activities of the US National Security Agency on the basis of documents provided by Edward Snowden. In the nomination "Sensational Material" journalists from another American publication ("Boston Globe") won, who covered explosions and search activities during the Boston marathon. The best international reports were acknowledged by the journalists of Reuters, who tell about the persecutions of Muslim communities in Myanmar and the slave trade.