Chapter 1
Unconventional voices in the spotlight
Chapter 2
Journalism's strangest scoops and scandals
Chapter 3
The board's big overrides and snubs
Chapter 4
Bizarre origins, rules, and oddities of the prize
Ch 1 · Unconventional voices in the spotlight
schopenhauer Unconventional Pulitzer Winners
A hip-hop album won the Pulitzer crown, Turning decades of classical rules upside down.
schopenhauer Senator John F. Kennedy built a legacy before entering the White House.
schopenhauer In 1950, Gwendolyn Brooks won the Poetry prize for 'Annie Allen', becoming the first African American to win a Pulitzer.
Fun Fact
Kendrick Lamar's Pulitzer: Before Kendrick Lamar's historic 2018 win, the Pulitzer Prize for Music had only ever been awarded to classical and jazz compositions.
schopenhauer In 1935, 24-year-old Josephine Winslow Johnson won the Fiction prize, making her the youngest fiction winner ever.
Glossary
hip-hop (noun)
A style of popular music featuring rapid, rhythmic speech chanted over electronic backing beats. In 2018, Kendrick Lamar's album DAMN. became the first work of this genre to win a Pulitzer.
A style of popular music featuring rapid, rhythmic speech chanted over electronic backing beats. In 2018, Kendrick Lamar's album DAMN. became the first work of this genre to win a Pulitzer.
Quiz
Which musical work by Kendrick Lamar made history in 2018 as the first hip-hop album to win a Pulitzer Prize?
BETA
schopenhauer Match bizarre trivia to Pulitzer categories to discover history's most surprising wildcard winners.
Quiz
Which close aide of John F. Kennedy was rumored to have ghostwritten much of 'Profiles in Courage'?
Quiz
Which future U.S. President won a Pulitzer Prize in 1957 for his book 'Profiles in Courage'?
schopenhauer Young author Josephine Winslow Johnson made history with her debut novel
Quiz
Where did Josephine Winslow Johnson write her record-breaking 1935 novel 'Now in November'?
Quiz
Who was the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize, earning the Poetry award in 1950?
Quiz
What genre of music had exclusively won the Pulitzer Prize for Music before jazz and hip-hop were introduced?
Quiz
What is the title of Gwendolyn Brooks's 1950 Pulitzer-winning poetry collection that focused on a Black girl's growth in Chicago?
Quiz
How old was Josephine Winslow Johnson when she won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1935?