Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
Encyclopedia
The Pulitzer Prize
for Criticism has been presented since 1970 to a newspaper writer who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism'. Recipients of the award are chosen by an independent board and officially administered by Columbia University
. The Pulitzer Committee issues an official citation explaining the reasons for the award.
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for Criticism has been presented since 1970 to a newspaper writer who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism'. Recipients of the award are chosen by an independent board and officially administered by Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. The Pulitzer Committee issues an official citation explaining the reasons for the award.
List of winners and their official citations
- 1970: Ada Louise HuxtableAda Louise HuxtableAda Louise Huxtable is an architecture critic and writer on architecture. In 1970 she was awarded the first ever Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for "distinguished criticism during 1969."...
, New York Times, "for distinguished criticism during 1969." - 1971: Harold C. SchonbergHarold C. SchonbergHarold Charles Schonberg was an American music critic and journalist, most notably for The New York Times. He was the first music critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism...
, New York Times, "for his music criticism during 1970." - 1972: Frank Peters Jr., St. Louis Post-DispatchSt. Louis Post-DispatchThe St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
, "for his music criticism during 1971." - 1973: Ronald PowersRon PowersRon Powers is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, novelist, and non-fiction writer. His face include White Town Drowsing: Journeys to Hannibal, Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain, and Mark Twain: A Life...
, Chicago Sun-TimesChicago Sun-TimesThe Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
, "for his critical writing about television during 1972." - 1974: Emily Genauer, NewsdayNewsdayNewsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
, "for her critical writing about art and artists." - 1975: Roger EbertRoger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, Chicago Sun-Times, "for his film criticism during 1974." - 1976: Alan M. KriegsmanAlan M. KriegsmanAlan Mortimer Kriegsman is an American dance critic who won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for his work at The Washington Post, the first to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for reporting as a dance critic....
, Washington Post, "for his critical writing about dance during 1975." - 1977: William McPhersonWilliam McPherson (critic)William McPherson is an American editor and literary critic who is most famous for his editorial work at publications such as the Washington Post as well as his various novels. McPherson was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism in 1977.-Life:William Alexander McPherson...
, Washington Post, "for his contribution to 'Book World.'" - 1978: Walter KerrWalter KerrFor the RN admiral see Lord Walter KerrWalter Francis Kerr was an American writer and Broadway theater critic. He also was the writer, lyricist, and/or director of several Broadway plays and musicals.-Biography:...
, New York Times, "for articles on the theater in 1977 and throughout his long career." - 1979: Paul Gapp, Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneThe Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, architecture - 1980: William A. Henry IIIWilliam A. Henry IIIWilliam A. Henry III was an award-winning American cultural critic and author.-Career:Henry lived in North Plainfield, New Jersey as a young man. Henry graduated from Yale in 1971 and began his career in journalism in Boston, writing for the Boston Globe. His coverage of school desegregation in...
, Boston Globe, "for critical writing about television." - 1981: Jonathan YardleyJonathan YardleyJonathan Yardley is a book critic at The Washington Post, and at one time of the Washington Star. In 1981 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.-Background and education:...
, Washington StarWashington StarThe Washington Star, previously known as the Washington Star-News and the Washington Evening Star, was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C. between 1852 and 1981. For most of that time, it was the city's newspaper of record, and the longtime home to columnist Mary McGrory and...
, "for his book reviews." - 1982: Martin BernheimerMartin BernheimerMartin Bernheimer is an American music critic. He studied at Brown University and the Hochschule für Musik in Munich, along with the famous musicologist Gustave Reese at New York University....
, Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, "for classical music criticism." - 1983: Manuela Hoelterhoff, Wall Street Journal, "for her wide-ranging criticism on the arts and other subjects."
- 1984: Paul GoldbergerPaul GoldbergerPaul Goldberger is the Architecture Critic for The New Yorker, where since 1997 he has written the magazine's celebrated "Sky Line" column. He also holds the Joseph Urban Chair in Design and Architecture at The New School in New York City...
, New York Times, "for architectural criticism." - 1985: Howard RosenbergHoward RosenbergHoward Rosenberg is a retired TV critic for the Los Angeles Times. He worked there for 25 years and won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. In recent years he has written the book No Time to Think: The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-Hour News Cycle with Charles S. Feldman and compiled an anthology of...
, Los Angeles Times, "for his television criticism." - 1986: Donal Henehan, New York Times, "for his music criticism."
- 1987: Richard EderRichard EderRichard Eder was for 20 years variously a foreign correspondent, a film reviewer and the drama critic for the New York Times. Subsequently he was book critic for the Los Angeles Times, winning a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism and the National Book Critics Circle annual citation...
, Los Angeles Times, "for his book reviews." - 1988: Tom ShalesTom ShalesThomas William "Tom" Shales is an American critic of television programming and operations. He is best known as TV critic for The Washington Post; in 1988, Shales received the Pulitzer Prize...
, Washington Post, "for his television criticism." - 1989: Michael SkubeMichael SkubeMichael Skube is a former journalist who is on the faculty of the Elon University School of Communications.Skube received a Bachelor of Arts from Louisiana State University. In 1975 he began working as a freelance journalist after having worked at the Customs Service. He began writing editorials...
, The News & ObserverThe News & ObserverThe News & Observer is the regional daily newspaper of the Research Triangle area of the U.S. State of North Carolina. The N&O, as it is popularly called, is based in Raleigh and also covers Durham, Cary, and Chapel Hill. The paper also has substantial readership in most of the state east of...
(Raleigh, North Carolina), "for his writing about books and other literary topics." - 1990: Allan TemkoAllan TemkoAllan Bernard Temko was a Pulitzer Prize-winning architectural critic and writer based in San Francisco.Born in New York City and raised in Weehawken, New Jersey, Temko served as a U.S...
, San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, "for his architecture criticism." - 1991: David ShawDavid Shaw (writer)David Shaw was an American journalist who was best known for his reporting for the Los Angeles Times, where he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1991...
, Los Angeles Times, "for his critiques of the way in which the media, including his own paper, reported the McMartin preschool trialMcMartin preschool trialThe McMartin preschool trial was a day care sexual abuse case of the 1980s. Members of the McMartin family, who operated a preschool in California, were charged with numerous acts of sexual abuse of children in their care. Accusations were made in 1983. Arrests and the pretrial investigation ran...
." - 1992: no award given
- 1993: Michael DirdaMichael DirdaMichael Dirda , a Fulbright Fellowship recipient, is a Pulitzer Prize–winning book critic for the Washington Post.-Career:Having studied at Oberlin College for his undergraduate degree, Dirda took a Ph.D. from Cornell University in comparative literature. In 1978 Dirda started writing for the...
, Washington Post, "for his book reviews." - 1994: Lloyd SchwartzLloyd SchwartzLloyd Schwartz is an American poet who is Frederick S. Troy Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Boston...
, Boston Phoenix, "for his skillful and resonant classical music criticism." - 1995: Margo JeffersonMargo JeffersonMargo Lillian Jefferson is a former theatre critic at The New York Times and a notable, full-time professor at Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts....
, New York Times, "for her book reviews and other cultural criticism." - 1996: Robert CampbellRobert Campbell (journalist)Robert Campbell is a writer and architect. He is currently the Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic for the Boston Globe. He lives and works in Cambridge, Massachusetts.-Education:...
, Boston Globe, "for his knowledgeable writing on architecture." - 1997: Tim PageTim Page (music critic)Tim Page is a writer, editor, music critic, producer and professor. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic for the Washington Post and also played an essential role in the revival of American author Dawn Powell.-Career:Page grew up in Storrs, Connecticut, where his father, Ellis B...
, Washington Post, "for his lucid and illuminating music criticism." - 1998: Michiko KakutaniMichiko Kakutaniis an American Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for The New York Times and is considered by many to be a leading literary critic in the United States.-Life and career:...
, New York Times, "for her passionate, intelligent writing on books and contemporary literature." - 1999: Blair KaminBlair KaminBlair Kamin is the Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic of the Chicago Tribune, a post he has held since 1992. Kamin has held other jobs at the Tribune and previously worked for The Des Moines Register. He also serves as a contributing editor of Architectural Record...
, Chicago Tribune, "for his lucid coverage of city architecture, including an influential series supporting the development of Chicago's lakefront area." - 2000: Henry AllenHenry Allen (journalist)Henry Allen is an American journalist and critic.He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2000 for his writings in the Washington Post on photography.Appeared on the Colbert Report, Feb. 2, 2010.-References:...
, Washington Post, "for his fresh and authoritative writing on photography." - 2001: Gail CaldwellGail CaldwellGail Caldwell was the chief book critic for The Boston Globe, where she was on staff from 1985 to 2009. Caldwell was the winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. The award was for eight Sunday reviews and two other columns written in 2000...
, Boston Globe, "for her insightful observations on contemporary life and literature." - 2002: Justin DavidsonJustin DavidsonJustin Davidson is a classical music and architecture critic. He began his journalism career as a local stringer for the Associated Press in Rome before moving to the United States to study music at Harvard...
, NewsdayNewsdayNewsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
, "for his crisp coverage of classical music that captures its essence." - 2003: Stephen HunterStephen HunterStephen Hunter is an American novelist, essayist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic.-Life and career:Stephen Hunter was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in Evanston, Illinois. His father was Charles Francis Hunter, a Northwestern University speech professor who was killed in 1975....
, Washington Post, "for his authoritative film criticism that is both intellectually rewarding and a pleasure to read." - 2004: Dan NeilDan NeilDan Neil is an automotive columnist for The Wall Street Journal and a former contributor to the Los Angeles Times, AutoWeek and Car and Driver. He is a panelist on The Car Show with Adam Carolla on Speed Channel, which debuted July 13, 2011.In 1999, Neil received the International Motor Press...
, Los Angeles Times, "for his one-of-a-kind reviews of automobiles, blending technical expertise with offbeat humor and astute cultural observations." - 2005: Joe MorgensternJoe MorgensternJoe Morgenstern is a Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic for The Wall Street Journal.-Career:Morgenstern graduated from Lehigh University in 1953. His first journalism experience was as news clerk at the New York Times...
of Wall Street Journal, "for his reviews that elucidated the strengths and weaknesses of film with rare insight, authority and wit." - 2006: Robin GivhanRobin GivhanRobin Givhan is the former fashion editor for The Washington Post. She left The Washington Post in 2010 and is now the fashion critic and fashion correspondent for The Daily Beast and Newsweek. She won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for criticism, the first such time for a fashion writer...
of Washington Post, "for her witty, closely observed essayEssayAn essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
s that transform fashion criticism into cultural criticism." - 2007: Jonathan GoldJonathan GoldJonathan Gold is a food critic who currently writes for LA Weekly and used to write for Gourmet magazine. In 2007 he became the first such critic to win the Pulitzer Prize. He is also a regular on KCRW's Good Food radio program....
of LA WeeklyLA WeeklyLA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
, "for his zestful, wide ranging restaurant reviews, expressing the delight of an erudite eater." - 2008: Mark FeeneyMark FeeneyMark Feeney is a Pulitzer Prize-winning arts critic for The Boston Globe. Feeney graduated from Harvard in 1979 and has been working for the paper almost ever since, as a researcher, writer, and editor, in various capacities. Feeney is also the author of the book Nixon at the Movies. In addition,...
of The Boston Globe, "for his penetrating and versatile command of the visual arts, from film and photography to painting." - 2009: Holland CotterHolland CotterHolland Cotter is an art critic with the New York Times. In 2009, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Cotter was born in Connecticut and grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. He earned his A.B. from Harvard College in 1970, where he studied English literature under poet Robert Lowell and was an...
of The New York Times, "for his wide ranging reviews of art, from Manhattan to China, marked by acute observation, luminous writing and dramatic storytelling." - 2010: Sarah KaufmanSarah Kaufman (critic)Sarah Kaufman is the dance critic for the Washington Post. She was the recipient of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Kaufman was born in Austin, Texas and was raised in Washington DC. She earned a BA in English from the University of Maryland, where she studied under poet laureate Reed...
of Washington Post, "for her refreshingly imaginative approach to dance criticism, illuminating a range of issues and topics with provocative comments and original insights." - 2011: Sebastian SmeeSebastian SmeeSebastian Smee is an Australian Pulitzer Prize-winning arts critic for The Boston Globe. Educated at St Peter's College in Adelaide where he excelled Smee graduated from The University of Sydney with an Honours degree in Fine Art in 1994 and moved to Boston in 2008, having also lived in the UK...
of Boston Globe, "for his vivid and exuberant writing about art, often bringing great works to life with love and appreciation."