Pulitzer Prize 2018: All you need to know

  • The 2018 Pulitzer Prize will be celebrating the best in the arts industry yet again
  • JFK is the only President to win the award, despite rumours that Obama has won
  • Iowa's Storm Lake Times, a 10 person publication, took home a Prize in 2017 

The 2018 Pulitzer Prize, arguably the most coveted award for journalists, will be celebrating the best news writing, musical composition and photography in the arts industry yet again.

Although a revered award, the ceremonies have not been without their controversies, starting with calls journalists to be revoked in 1931 and 1946 to the Board deciding to overrule the jury and recommend Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. 

Harrisburg Patriot News’ Sara Ganim also became the youngest Pulitzer Prize winner in 2012 for reporting on the investigation into Penn State ex-Assistant Football Coach Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse allegations.

While some have questioned whether or not the Pulitzer Prize is overhyped and reward newspapers, rather than the journalists, it has been proved that smaller publications do have a chance at winning, as shown by the 10-person organisation, Storm Lake Times from Iowa who took a prize home in 2017.

Nick Ut's infamous 'Napalm girl' photo won a Pulitzer Prize for outstanding photojournalism

Nick Ut's infamous 'Napalm girl' photo won a Pulitzer Prize for outstanding photojournalism

What is the Pulitzer Prize?

The Pulitzer Prize aims to award those who have excelled in the media of newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature and music.

The award was established in 1917 after newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer left $250,000 (£175,000) in his will to New York’s Columbia University to launch a journalism school.

In the will, Pulitzer specified ‘four awards in journalism, four in letters and drama, one in education and four travelling scholarships'. The first Pulitzer Prizes were given out after his death on June 4, 1917 and the ceremony is now held every April.

How to enter the Pulitzer Prize

In order to be considered for a Pulitzer Prize, journalists have to enter their work and pay a $50 (£35) entry fee. Work can only be entered in a maximum of two categories.

102 jurors, who are selected by the Pulitzer Prize Board will serve on 20 separate juries for the 21 categories, with one jury judging both Breaking News Photography and Feature Photography categories.

Each category has between three to seven jurors and the jury is then asked to make three nominations. The Board will then select the winner by majority vote and can also choose to not give out an award at all.

While the Board and the Journalism competition jurors are not paid, the Letters, Drama & Music category judges are given $2,000 (£1,400) for the year, with each chair receiving $2,500 (£1,750).

On the day of the official Pulitzer Prize announcement, both winners and nominees are announced.

Joe Rosenthal's iconic Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima photograph was taken during World War II

Joe Rosenthal's iconic Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima photograph was taken during World War II

Pulitzer Prize categories

The 21 Pulitzer Prize categories are divided into two categories, Journalism and Letters, Drama & Music.

From 1947, the Letters, Drama & Music category included genres such as General Nonfiction, Biography and History and moved away from only judging novels.

Other previous categories include Spot News Photography, Explanatory Journalism and Correspondence which have been renamed and included under Pulitzer’s prizes for Journalism.

Here is a list of all the current categories:

Journalism

Feature Writing

Public Service

Investigative Reporting

Explanatory Reporting

Local Reporting

National Reporting

International Reporting

Breaking News Reporting

Commentary

Criticism

Editorial Writing

Editorial Cartooning

Breaking News Photography

Feature Photography

Letters, Drama & Music

Fiction

Drama

History

Biography

Poetry

General Nonfiction

Music

Pulitzer Prize winners 

Robert Frost, Eugene O’Neill and Robert E. Sherwood have all won a total of four Pulitzer Prizes in their lifetime in the Arts & Letters category. 

Carol Guzy has also won four prizes in the Breaking News Photography, Feature Photography and two for Spot News Photography.

Former President John F. Kennedy is the only President to win the coveted award, despite rumours that Barack Obama has won it. JFK was given the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for Profiles in Courage.

Find the full list of Pulitzer Prize winners here.  

When will the Pulitzer Prize 2018 winners be announced?

The 2018 Pulitzer Prize winners will be named on Monday, April 16 at 3pm EST from the Columbia Journalism School’s World Room.

How to watch the 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner announcement

The naming of the Pulitzer Prize winners and nominees will be available to watch and can be livestreamed on pulitzer.org.

When are the Pulitzer Prizes awarded?

Although the names of the winners are announced earlier, the Pulitzer Prizes are awarded at a luncheon in late May of every year. However, in the Centennial year, the 2016 Prizes were handed out at a dinner in October.

The Pulitzer Prize luncheon takes place at Low Library on the Columbia University campus in New York City.

What do the Pulitzer Prize winners get?

For 20 of the categories, Pulitzer Prize winners receive a $15,000 (£10,500) cash award, an increase of $5,000 (£3,500) from 2017 and a certificate, but winners in the Public Service category of the Journalism competition are given a gold medal.

This award cannot be given to an individual and is awarded to a news organisation, although an individual, such as a journalist, may be named in the citation.