Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Pulitzer Prize
References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images & Videos
Pulitzer gold Newsroom celebration Accepting the prize Witness to horror
The Colorful Life of The Color Purple Author Alice Walker
Book cover for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, featuring a silhouette of a child under a tree and a large moon, with the title in script and "Winner of the Pulitzer Prize."
Quizzes
Row of colorful books on a bookshelf. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
The Literary World
The Pulitzer wall at the New York Times, celebrating the journalistic awards received by the newspaper and its journalists. Pulitzer prize
Pulitzer Prize
Sir Winston Churchill, print reproduced from the original oil painting by Sir Oswald Birley, published 1906.
Literary Awards Quiz
Related Questions
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Pulitzer gold
Pulitzer gold The most coveted of the journalism Pulitzers—the Gold Medal—is awarded annually to a news organization “for disinterested and meritorious public service.”

Pulitzer Prize

Prestigious awards in journalism, literature, and music
Written by
Tracy Grant
Tracy Grant is a senior editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica. She previously served as editor in chief, the first woman to hold that title. 
Tracy Grant
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
Last updated
•History

The Pulitzer Prizes are prestigious awards presented annually for outstanding public service and achievement in American journalism, letters, and music. When newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer drafted his will in 1904, he left Columbia University in New York City a bequest for funding awards that would celebrate exemplary journalism as well as fiction and nonfiction writing. He also funded scholarships for the study of the craft of journalism. Pulitzer died in 1911, and the first Pulitzer...

Discover the world with Britannica

Subscribe to Continue Reading

Free Trial | No Ads | Exclusive Content
Explore Subscriptions
DNA
Right
Mobile