The 2016 Pulitzer Prizes were awarded Monday, and in a decision that surprised virtually no one, the Broadway sensation “Hamilton” was awarded the Pulitzer for Drama. It was the first musical to win the coveted award since 2010.
Since its debut last summer, the hip hop musical about the life of Alexander Hamilton has received glowing reviews and become a sensation, grossing more than $60 million at the box office. A book for fans, Hamilton: The Revolution, was released earlier this month and immediately climbed to the top of the Amazon charts. Creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda has been given a MacArthur genius award, feted by the White House and earned a spot on Fortune’s latest list of the World’s Greatest Leaders.
After receiving the prize, Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeted out his initial reaction.
PULITZER?! pic.twitter.com/Y7W6JQWhZF
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) April 18, 2016
Followed by his second reaction.
Grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful great full
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) April 18, 2016
The Pulitzer Prize, established by Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalist founder Joseph Pulitzer, is celebrating its centennial. The prizes are awarded in 21 categories, and the winners in all but one category receive a cash prize of $10,000 for their work. (The journalism category’s Public Service winner is a news organization and receives a gold medal.)
Here are the winners:
Journalism
Public Service: The Associated Press
Breaking News Reporting: The Los Angeles Times
Investigative Reporting: Leonora LaPeter Anton and Anthony Cormier of the Tampa Bay News and Michael Braga of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Explanatory Reporting: T. Christian Miller of ProPublica and Ken Armstrong of the Marshall Project
Local Reporting: Tampa Bay Times
National Reporting: The Washington Post
International Reporting: Alissa J. Rubin of The New York Times
Feature Writing: Kathryn Schulz of The New Yorker
Commentary: Farah Stockman of the Boston Globe
Criticism: Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker
Editorial Writing: John Hackworth of Sun Newspapers, Charlotte Harbor, Florida
Editorial Cartooning: Jack Ohman of The Sacramento Bee
Breaking News Photography: Mauricio Lima, Sergey Ponomarev, Tyler Hicks, Daniel Etter of the New York Times; and the photography staff of Thomson Reuters
Feature Photography: Jessica Rinaldi of the Boston Globe
Letters and Drama
Fiction: Viet Thanh Nguyen for The Sympathizer
Drama: Lin-Manuel Miranda for Hamilton
History: T.J. Stiles for Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America
Biography or Autobiography: William Finnegan for Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
Poetry: Peter Balakian for Ozone Journal
General Non-Fiction: Joby Warrick for Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS
Music: Henry Threadgill for In for a Penny, In for a Pound
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