Marjorie Miller (00:00):
Good afternoon. Welcome to the announcement of the finalists and winners of the 2026 Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, Books, Music, and Drama. This is always a day of celebration in our communities, but perhaps never more so than today as we face tremendous political and economic pressures. In light of these, let me begin by saying what we shouldn't have to say. The Pulitzer Prizes support the First Amendment. We believe in access to government institutions and an independent press. We stand for civil discourse and against censorship. Unfortunately, this bears repeating now as media access to the White House and Pentagon is restricted. Free speech is challenged in the streets, and the president of the United States has filed lawsuits for billions of dollars for defamation and malice against multiple print and broadcast media.
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The future of some major news media is uncertain. Many local news outlets have folded, and the book publishing industry is struggling with economic and technological pressures. And yet, the fields are robust, thanks to so many dogged and talented people and new digital startups. Pulitzer entries in journalism, arts, and letters are as plentiful as always. We received 1,077 journalism entries from traditional and new media; 1,800 book entries, including a range of fiction and nonfiction that crossed genre and challenged traditional forms of storytelling.
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The works are astonishing for their excellence. They address wildfires and flooding of historic proportions and seemingly unending tragedies: wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the fentanyl crisis, and failures of local governments to ensure the safety of their citizens. Unsurprisingly, much of the journalism focused on the most contentious issues of 2025: government immigration policy, ICE tactics, and the communities affected by them, the dismantling of federal agencies and sweeping cuts to US foreign aid, the Jeffrey Epstein files and his network of powerful friends. Several entries focused on President Trump's norm-breaking efforts to expand presidential power and enrich his family. In short, the Pulitzer juries and then the board had an inspiring array of consequential reporting and vibrant storytelling to select from. So without further delay, let's get to the announcements.
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We begin with journalism. The finalists for Breaking News Reporting are: Staff of The Seattle Times for its coverage of catastrophic flooding from a major storm system that remained over the Pacific Northwest for days, work that in real time warned residents, relayed the stories of affected communities, and explained how weather and geography combined to cause the devastation; Staff of the Southern California News Group for their coverage of the unrelenting wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles communities and killed 31 people, reporting that included the fire's immediate aftermath and accountability-driven analysis; Staff of The Wall Street Journal for their comprehensive and compelling coverage of deadly Texas flooding, including the failures and technical errors that led to the tragedy and heart-rending narratives of its impact; Staff of the Minnesota Star Tribune for its coverage of a shooting in a back-to-school mass at a Catholic school that left two children dead and 17 wounded, powerful stories marked by thoroughness and compassion. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to Staff of the Minnesota Star Tribune.
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The finalists for Investigative Reporting are: Cynthia Dizikes and Joaquin Palomino of the San Francisco Chronicle for their meticulous and heart-wrenching reporting on California's psychiatric hospitals that put profits over patients and endangered some of the state's most vulnerable citizens; Debbie Cenziper, Megan Rose, and Brandon Roberts of ProPublica for exposing how the Food and Drug Administration allowed the import of generic drugs from foreign factories that violated safety standards with potentially lethal consequences for unsuspecting Americans; Staff of The New York Times for deeply reported stories that exposed how President Trump has shattered constraints on conflicts of interest and exploited the moneymaking opportunities that come with power, enriching his family and allies. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to Staff of The New York Times. The finalists for Explanatory Reporting are: Staff of Bloomberg for reporting on a new generation of so-called revolutionary cancer drugs that revealed how pharmaceutical companies, lobbyists, and medical entrepreneurs have reaped huge profits while failing to show that the drugs have extended patients' lives; Brett Murphy and Anna Maria Barry-Jester of ProPublica for an authoritative and consequential examination of the Trump administration's freeze of humanitarian aid through the US Agency for International Development, coverage that illuminated how the dismantling of the agency placed hundreds of thousands of people at risk, contradicted official assurances that life-saving programs remained active, and led to preventable deaths; Susie Neilson, Megan Fan Munce, and Sara DiNatale of the San Francisco Chronicle for their series Burned, which showed how insurance companies using algorithmic tools have failed Californians who lost their homes to fire by systematically undervaluing their properties, denying claims, and making it impossible for them to rebuild. And the Pulitzer goes to Susie Neilson, Megan Fan Munce, and Sara DiNatale of the San Francisco Chronicle.
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The finalists in Beat Reporting are: Nick Miroff of the Atlantic for his sustained and vigorous coverage of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, which included reporting on a deportee sent to El Salvador's terrorism confinement center, and on immigration enforcement officers facing daily deportation quotas; Hamed Aleaziz of The New York Times for deeply moving and insightful immigration coverage that held powerful federal agencies to account and revealed the agonizing choices faced by migrants whose lives were upended by the Trump administration's policies; Jeff Horwitz and Engen Tham of Reuters for inventive and revelatory reporting on Meta that detailed the technology company's willingness to expose users, including children, to scams and AI manipulation. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to Jeff Horwitz and Engen Tham of Reuters.
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The finalists for Local Reporting are: Liz Bowie, Greg Morton, Ryan Little, and Allan James Vestal of The Baltimore Banner for coverage including data sets and immersive storytelling that showed how Baltimore's transit system forces long commutes on students, exposing them to potential dangers and causing them to miss classes, reporting that inspired a community search for solutions; Dave Altimari and Ginny Monk of The Connecticut Mirror and Sophie Chou and Haru Coryne of ProPublica for an impressive series exposing how the state's unique towing laws favored unscrupulous companies that
Marjorie Miller (10:00):
... at overcharged residents, prompting swift and meaningful consumer protections. Staffs of the Miami Herald and WLRN for a dynamically illustrated data-driven series that exposed the human cost behind the high speed Bright Line Railroad, which has killed more people per mile than any other US passenger rail system, reporting that triggered the release of safety funding and new crossing standards. Staff of Chicago Tribune for its powerful coverage of the Trump administration's militarized immigration sweep of the city that described in vivid muscular prose how the siege-like incursion of ICE agents unified Chicagoans in resistance.
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We have two winners in this category. Dave Altimari and Ginny Monk of the Connecticut Mirror and Sophie Chou and Haru Coryne of ProPublica. And the Pulitzer Prize also goes to staff of the Chicago Tribune. The finalists for national reporting. Staff of Bloomberg for coverage of the Trump administration's deregulation of cryptocurrencies, which revealed conflicts of interest within a complex industry filled with unusual characters. Staff of Reuters, notably Ned Parker, Linda So, Peter Eisler, and Mike Spector for documenting how the President used the US government and the influence of his supporters to expand executive power and exact vengeance on his foes. Staff of the Washington Post for reporting that tracked the impact of the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign, following it from a Chicago Park to the White House, a tent encampment in Texas, and a Salvadoran prison. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to staff of Reuters, notably Ned Parker, Linda So, Peter Eisler, and Mike Spector. The finalists for international reporting, Dake Kang, Garance Burke, Byron Tau, Aniruddha Ghosal of Associated Press, and contributor Yael Grauer for an astonishing global investigation into the state-of-the-art tools of mass surveillance created in Silicon Valley, advanced in China, and spreading worldwide before returning to America for secret new uses by the US Border Patrol. Stephanie Nolen of The New York Times for cataloging in devastating detail, the harm caused to vulnerable people across the developing world by the Trump administration's abrupt dismantling of US humanitarian aid, which had fought disease and promoted good health for decades.
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Staff of The Wall Street Journal, notably Jared Malsin, for its intimate humanizing reporting that laid bare the Assad regime's atrocities against the Syrian people over 13 years of revolution and war. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to Dake Kang, Garance Burke, Byron Tau, Aniruddha Ghosal of Associated Press and contributor Yael Grauer. The finalists for feature writing are: Rachel Aviv of the New Yorker for an extraordinary exploration of how some patients diagnosed with schizophrenia actually have autoimmune conditions and what happens after they're treated. Emily Baumgaertner Nunn of The New York Times for her deeply and sensitively reported narrative that chronicles the explosion of child sex trafficking in Los Angeles.
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Aaron Parsley of Texas Monthly for his extraordinary personal account of survival and loss, written days after the historic Central Texas floods that tore the writer's house out from under him and his family, taking the life of his nephew. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to Aaron Parsley of Texas Monthly. The finalists for criticism are: Mark Lamster of The Dallas Morning News for his rigorous and passionate architecture criticism, using wit and expertise to amplify his opinions and advocate for city residents. Vinson Cunningham of the New Yorker for sophisticated accessible essays on the media with an emphasis on television that address shifts in culture, politics, and American life with clear-eyed authority. Michael J. Lewis of the Wall Street Journal for informed and insightful writing about architecture that brings the inanimate to life and reflects a deep understanding that buildings are at once visual and civic spaces. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to Mark Lamster of The Dallas Morning News. The finalists for opinion writing are Gustavo Arellano of the Los Angeles Times for passionate vivid commentary on the cruelty endured by families and communities in the Los Angeles area targeted by federal mass deportation policy. M. Gessen of The New York Times for an illuminating collection of reported essays on rising authoritarian regimes that draw on history and personal experience to probe timely themes of oppression, belonging, and exile. Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times for a wrenching and impactful series of columns, imploring Americans to face the deadly consequences of the Trump administration's cuts to the US agency for international development. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to M. Gessen of The New York Times.
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The finalists for illustrated reporting and commentary. Ivan Ehlers, freelancer, for an impressive collection addressing contemporary issues, including economics, climate, and immigration that shows extraordinary range, depth, artistry, and powerful commentary from an emerging visual journalist. Peter Kuper, freelancer, for a portfolio of vibrant and wordless political cartoons on the climate crisis, politics, and emerging technology rendered with a fresh perspective and a unique approach to visual storytelling. Adolfo Arranz, Poppy McPherson, Devjyot Goshal, and Han Huang of Reuters for Scammed into Scamming, an insightful and beautifully rendered visual narrative depicting a multi-billion dollar digital scamming industry staffed with victims of global human trafficking.
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Anand RK, Suparna Sharma, contributors, and Natalie Obiko Pearson of Bloomberg for trapped, a riveting account of a neurologist in India threatened with digital arrest by phone, visuals, and words that cast light on the growing challenges of surveillance and digital scams. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to Anand RK and Suparna Sharma, contributors, and Natalie Obiko Pearson of Bloomberg. The finalists for breaking news photography are photography staff of the Los Angeles Times for images capturing the deadliest urban wildfires in Los Angeles history, revealing the chaos, destruction, and human toll as flames tore through communities. Saher Alghorra, contributor, The New York Times,
Marjorie Miller (20:00):
... for his haunting, sensitive series showing the devastation and starvation in Gaza, resulting from the war with Israel; Photography Staff of Reuters for coverage of wide-ranging immigration enforcement actions across the United States, a portfolio distinguished by its breadth, power, and immediacy. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to Saher Alghorra, contributor, The New York Times.
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The finalists in Feature Photography are Photography Staff of The New York Times for an in depth report on the ubiquitous, deadly drone warfare devastating Ukraine; Gabrielle Lurie of the San Francisco Chronicle for a deeply intimate and sensitive series illustrating the brutal reality of the fentanyl crisis in America through three people affected by it; Jahi Chikwendiu of The Washington Post for a heart-wrenching and achingly beautiful photo essay on a young family welcoming the birth of their first child as the father is slowly dying from cancer. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to Jahi Chikwendiu of The Washington Post.
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The finalists for Audio Reporting are Azeen Ghorayshi and Austin Mitchell of The New York Times for The Protocol, their comprehensive investigation of youth gender medicine, exploring its origins and uses, helping to illuminate one of the most controversial medical debates of our time; Staff of Pablo Torre Finds Out for a pioneering and entertaining form of live podcast journalism that investigated how the Los Angeles Clippers seemingly evaded the NBA's salary cap by funneling money to a star player through an environmental startup; Valerie Bauerlein, Heather Rogers, Colin McNulty, Nathan Singhapok, and Rachel Humphreys of The Wall Street Journal for Camp Swamp Road, which uses extraordinary archival audio to investigate a 2023 fatal shooting and the flawed implementation of stand-your-ground laws. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to Staff of Pablo Torre Finds Out. The finalists for Public Service are Chicago Tribune for its powerful coverage of the Trump administration's militarized immigration sweep of the city; The Wall Street Journal, for work led by Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo, revelatory and forensic stories that helped provoke the release of millions of justice department files about Jeffrey Epstein's powerful network; The Washington Post for piercing the veil of secrecy around the Trump administration's chaotic overhaul of federal agencies and chronicling in rich detail the human impacts of the cuts and the consequences for the country. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to The Washington Post.
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This year, our board has awarded a Special Citation. The Special Citation is awarded to Miami Herald reporter, Julie K. Brown, for her groundbreaking reporting in 2017 and 2018 that exposed Jeffrey Epstein's systematic abuse of young women, the justice system that protected him and, over time, his powerful network of associates and enablers. Her perversion of justice series published nearly a decade ago revealed how prosecutors shielded Epstein from federal sex trafficking charges when he was first accused of abusing young women. She went on to document and give voice to the scores of victims who had been groomed and abused by him and others in his circle. Her work and the release of the government's Epstein files continue to reverberate around the world. And now, we turn to the finalists and winners in Books, Music, and Drama. The finalists in Drama are Bowl EP by Nazareth Hassan, a play focused on two skateboarders, aspiring hip hop artists who begin to compose an album with downtime fueling their creative process and nascent romance; Liberation by Bess Wohl, a striking blend of comedy and sincerity that explores the legacy of the consciousness raising feminist groups of the 1970s using the story of the playwright's mother to demonstrate how the movement grew out of conversation and that anyone experiencing the play has joined the discussion; Meet the Cartozians by Talene Monahon, a drama that uses the historical lens of the Armenian American experience to illustrate the enduring hypocrisies of our country's radicalized system of immigration. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to Liberation by Bess Wohl.
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The finalists in History are King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution, A Story of Hubris, Delusion, and Catastrophic Miscalculation by Scott Anderson, a superbly written and dramatic account of the downfall of the Shah of Iran, American miscalculation, and the revolution that ushered in an Islamic state, history that is timely today; Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City by Bench Ansfield, an elegantly written and scholarly account of large scale arson instigated by landlords that wiped out wide swaths of apartment buildings and tenements in New York City from 1968 to the early 1980s, especially in working class and poor neighborhoods; We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution by Jill Lepore, a lively and engaging narrative that investigates why the Constitution is so difficult to amend, including a review of noteworthy failed amendments proposed by marginalized groups. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to We the People: A A History of the U.S. Constitution by Jill Lepore. The finalists in Biography are The Life and Poetry of Frank Stanford by James McWilliams, a finely researched work that illuminates the story of a little known yet consequential literary figure, whose life helps us better understand the cultural history of the American South; Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution by Amanda Vaill, a lively and detailed biography of two daughters of wealthy and influential Dutch landowners who colored our nation's history, using present tense to tell their story and past tense to chronicle the dramatic sweep of the American Revolution; True Nature: The Pilgrimage of Peter Matthieson by Lance Richardson, the life of a talented, complicated writer who rejected conformity and whose experiences informed the philosophical and spiritual dimensions of his work. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution by Amanda Vaill.
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The finalists for Memoir and Autobiography are I'll Tell You When I'm Home by Hala Alyan, a memoir that reimagines diaspora and the long consequences of war with literary clarity in which the author's experiences with infertility and then motherhood are juxtaposed with an intergenerational family history; Clam Down by Anelise Chen, an experimental and deeply
Marjorie Miller (30:00):
... the original memoir in which the writer reimagines herself as a clam, using humor and tenderness to explore a fraught relationship with her father and the pressures of being a first generation daughter of immigrant parents.
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Bibliophobia by Sarah Chihaya, an incisive account that illustrates how literary devotion can sustain but also endanger the self since literature contains ideas that are perilous and revolutionary as well as restorative.
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Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li, a writer's deeply moving and revelatory account of losing her younger son to suicide, a little more than six years after her older son died in the same manner, an austere and defiant memoir of acceptance that focuses on facts, language, and the persistence of life.
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And the Pulitzer Prize goes to, Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li.
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The finalists for poetry are: I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always by Douglas Kearney, a multiverse of poems that burst off the page in vivid, innovative structures, deploying collage, comics, music, typography, wordplay, and fiction to push literary boundaries.
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The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems by Patricia Smith, a bold re-imagining of the new and selected form, where the poet enters into dialogue with her earlier poems, transforming a career retrospective into an engagement with earlier selves.
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Ars Poeticas, Juliana Spahr, a collection in which the poet takes stock of her personal disillusionment, which she uses to interrogate her relationship to her art form, community and politics.
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And the Pulitzer Prize goes to Ars Poeticas, Juliana Spar. The finalists for general nonfiction are: There is No Place for Us by Brian Goldstone, a feed of reportage analysis and storytelling, focusing on the issues that have created a national crisis of family homelessness among the so called working poor.
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A Flower Traveled in My Blood by Haley Cohen Gilliland, a beautifully written and well-reported book on Argentina's Dirty War, told through the eyes of the mothers, grandmothers who sought the truth about what happened to their disappeared loved ones and raised awareness of political repression in South America.
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Mother Emmanuel by Kevin Sack. A sensitive exploration of a church massacre in Charleston, South Carolina, a rigorously researched and reported story of faith, African-American institutions, the legacy of slavery, and what remains after devastating losses.
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And the Pulitzer Prize goes to There is No Place for Us by Brian Goldstone.
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The finalists for music are: In the Arms of the Beloved by Billy Childs, a powerfully expressive composition that unifies chamber music, jazz and choral music in a combination that speaks to America's diverse musical traditions, offered as a way of caring forward the spirit of our ancestors.
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Picaflor: A Future Myth by Gabriela Lena Frank, a modern symphonic work informed by the composer's personal experiences with California wildfires and Andean legend, 10 powerful movements that follow a hummingbird through its attempts to escape cataclysms, a contemplation of the fragile future.
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American Descent by Andrew Rindfleisch, an energetic, emotional work richly orchestrated to include propulsive metallic textures, as well as moments of solitude and introspection, different pathways for listeners of all perspectives to wrestle with the uncertainty of turbulent times. And the Pulitzer Prize goes to Picaflor: A Future Myth by Gabriela Lena Frank.
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The finalists in fiction are: Audition by Katie Kitamura, a novel containing two competing yet seemingly unrelated narratives whose uncertainties, contradictions, and congruencies address the roles we play in life as well as our sense of self.
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Angel Down by Daniel Kraus, a breathless novel of World War I, a stylistic tour de force that blends such genre as allegory, magical realism and science fiction into a cohesive whole told in a single sentence. Stag Dance by Torrey Peters, a story collection that explores versions of transgender consciousness across literary forms that seem familiar, but whose effects are strange, challenging, and ultimately fresh.
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And the Pulitzer Prize goes to Angel Down by Daniel Kraus. Congratulations to all of the winners and finalists for the 2026 Pulitzer Prizes. You can learn more about their work at Pulitzer.org, and we will see you again next year. Thank you.