Awards Record

Literature (fiction)

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: winners and how it is awarded

The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1918, first as the Prize for the Novel and as the Fiction prize since 1948. It honours a book by an American author published during the year.2

Awarded byThe Pulitzer Prizes, administered at Columbia University
Established1918
FrequencyAnnual
Prize valueNot confirmed in fetched sources (as of 27 October 2026)

How the winner is chosen

The prize is for distinguished fiction published in book form during the year by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. A jury reviews eligible books and recommends finalists, and the Pulitzer Prize Board makes the final decision. The Board is not bound by the jury and may decline to make an award.

Winners

  1. 2026Daniel Kraus1Angel Down (Atria Books), a World War I novel blending allegory, magical realism and science fiction
  2. 2025Percival Everett1James (Doubleday), a retelling of Huckleberry Finn from Jim's perspective
  3. 2024Jayne Anne Phillips1Night Watch (Knopf), set at a West Virginia asylum after the Civil War
  4. 2023Hernan Diaz1,2Trust (Riverhead Books), shared award
  5. 2023Barbara Kingsolver1,2Demon Copperhead (Harper), shared award
  6. 2022Joshua Cohen1The Netanyahus (New York Review Books)
  7. 2021Louise Erdrich1The Night Watchman (Harper)
  8. 2020Colson Whitehead1The Nickel Boys (Doubleday)
  9. 2019Richard Powers1The Overstory (W.W. Norton)
  10. 2018Andrew Sean Greer1Less (Lee Boudreaux Books/Little, Brown)
  11. 2017Colson Whitehead1The Underground Railroad (Doubleday)
  12. 2016Viet Thanh Nguyen1The Sympathizer (Grove Press)
  13. 2015Anthony Doerr1All the Light We Cannot See (Scribner)
  14. 2014Donna Tartt1The Goldfinch (Little, Brown)

Not awarded in: {'year': 1920, 'note': 'No award given', 'sources': ['wpf']}, {'year': 1941, 'note': 'No award given', 'sources': ['wpf']}, {'year': 1946, 'note': 'No award given', 'sources': ['wpf']}, {'year': 1954, 'note': 'No award given', 'sources': ['wpf']}, {'year': 1957, 'note': 'No award given', 'sources': ['wpf']}, {'year': 1964, 'note': 'No award given', 'sources': ['wpf']}, {'year': 1971, 'note': 'No award given', 'sources': ['wpf']}, {'year': 1974, 'note': 'No award given', 'sources': ['wpf']}, {'year': 1977, 'note': 'No award given', 'sources': ['wpf']}, {'year': 2012, 'note': 'No award given', 'sources': ['wpf']}.

Notable facts

The 2023 prize was shared by Barbara Kingsolver and Hernan Diaz, the first time the Fiction prize was shared.2

Colson Whitehead won the prize twice in this period, in 2017 and 2020.1

Sources

  1. The Pulitzer Prizes, Fiction (27 October 2026)
  2. Wikipedia, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (27 October 2026)