Books in the News: Pulitzer Prizes 2015

Posted by Katherine R.

The Pulitzer Prizes for 2015 were just awarded on April 20th.  The prize was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of American (Hungarian-born) publisher Joseph Pulitzer, and is administered by Columbia University.  Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. In twenty categories, each winner receives a certificate and a $10,000 cash award. The winner in the public service category of the journalism competition is awarded a gold medal. This year's winners that you can check out from our library are:

Fiction: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
An imaginative and intricate novel inspired by the horrors of World War II and written in short, elegant chapters that explore human nature and the contradictory power of technology. 

History: Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People by Elizabeth A. Fenn.  An engrossing, original narrative showing the Mandans, a Native American tribe in the Dakotas, as a people with a history. 













Biography: The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe by David I. Kertzer. An engrossing dual biography that uses recently opened Vatican archives to shed light on two men who exercised nearly absolute power over their realms. 

General Nonfiction: The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert. An exploration of nature that forces readers to consider the threat posed by human behavior to a world of astonishing diversity.