The Pulitzer Prize is a prestigious yearly series of awards that covers journalistic, photographic, musical and literary work judged to be worthy of special recognition. The prize was established thanks to a bequeathment left by Joseph Pulitzer to Columbia University upon his death in 1911. The first prizes were awarded in 1917 and have been awarded annually ever since.
Many prominent American artists, historians and journalists have been recognized for their achievments by being awarded the Pulitzer Prize, announced in April of each year. There are 14 categories of Journalism in which awards are presented, along with 7 categories in Letters, Drama, and Music. The 2009 winners were announced April 20.
The awards in Letters, Drama, and Music:
- Fiction: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (Random House)
- Drama: Ruined by Lynn Nottage
- History: The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed (W.W. Norton & Company)
- Biography or Autobiography: American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham (Random House)
- Poetry: The Shadow of Sirius by W.S. Merwin (Copper Canyon Press)
- General Nonfiction: Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon (Doubleday)
- Music: Double Sextet by Steve Reich (Boosey & Hawkes)
The awards in Journalism:
- Public Service: Las Vegas Sun, and notably the courageous reporting by Alexandra Berzon
- Breaking News Reporting: Staff of The New York Times
- Investigative Reporting: David Barstow of The New York Times
- Explanatory Reporting: Bettina Boxall and Julie Cart of Los Angeles Times
- Local Reporting: Detroit Free Press Staff, and notably Jim Schaefer and M.L. Elrick / Ryan Gabrielson and Paul Giblin of East Valley Tribune, Mesa, AZ
- National Reporting: Staff of St. Petersburg Times
- International Reporting: Staff of The New York Times
- Feature Writing: Lane DeGregory of St. Petersburg Times
- Commentary: Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post
- Criticism: Holland Cotter of The New York Times
- Editorial Writing: Mark Mahoney of The Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY
- Editorial Cartooning: Steve Breen of The San Diego Union-Tribune
- Breaking News Photography: Patrick Farrell of The Miami Herald
- Feature Photography: Damon Winter of The New York Times
Today, the Pulitzer Prizes continues to honor excellence in journalism, letters, arts and music, and in doing so helps the importance of these fields remain more appreciable to the public.
While in reality there is little intersection in between the worlds of textiles and those that the Pulitzer recognizes, textiles does celebrate some of the aspects highlighted by the Pulitzer Prize. It is in fact a reach, but textiles also celebrate the role music plays in our lives with myriad musically-inspired fabric designs. Some of the music fabrics carried at J&O include:
With the Pulitzer prizes in photography the visceral impact visual media have on our perceptions is given its due. Textiles don't purport to be a visual commentary on the world around us, what they do is use the impact of striking designs to captivate us. Similar to how a single great photograph can be evocative of a time or an entire place, a great fabric design can transport us to old memories or exotic locales. Some striking examples of the art of textiles designers are:
Mikado: Orange by Alexander Girard
Labels: fabrics, music, novelty, prize, prizes, Pulitzer