9/11 Attacks and the War on International Terrorism Dominate Pulitzer Prizes

By Michael J. Bandler
Washington File Staff Writer

Biggest share of journalism awards go to coverage of attacks on U.S.

Washington -- As has been true of so much of U.S. society of late, the devastation of September 11, 2001, cast its shadow on this year's Pulitzer Prizes for 2002, honoring the work of journalists and creative artists.

Award after award in the journalism categories, announced by the president of Columbia University April 8 on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board, clustered around the terrorist attacks on the United States in New York City and Washington, D.C.

The New York Times received the lion's share of honors -- a record seven Pulitzers in various categories. Its special section, "A Nation Challenged," which it published regularly after September 11, gained the award for "meritorious public service," for "coherently and comprehensively" covering the events, profiling victims and following the story as it developed, both locally and around the world.

The Wall Street Journal was honored with the Pulitzer for "breaking news reporting," for its coverage of the attacks on New York City. The Times received the award for "explanatory reporting" for profiling and analyzing the threats posed by the global terrorism network. "National reporting" honors went to the staff of The Washington Post for reporting on the war on terrorism, combining new details with analysis as developments unfolded.

Individual prizewinners included New York Times foreign correspondent Barry Bearak for "international reporting," specifically his "deeply affecting and illuminating" reports on daily life in Afghanistan as the war ensued; and Times columnist Thomas Friedman for his commentaries on the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat. The Times photography staff also gained honors in both the breaking news and feature photography categories -- the former for the events of September 11 and their aftermath, the latter for depicting the "pain and perseverance" of the Afghani and Pakistani people caught up in the conflict.

Other winners of 2002 Pulitzers in journalism focused on aspects of U.S. society -- including Wall Street, welfare and the legal system.

The social climate of the United States seemed to be on the minds of jurors in the cultural categories as well.

Suzan-Lori Parks, part of a new contingent of young American playwrights, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama for her two-character work, Topdog/Underdog, which opened on Broadway April 7 following its debut off-Broadway, at the Public Theater. The play was described by New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley as "a deeply theatrical experience" and "the most exciting new homegrown play to hit Broadway" in years. Parks is known in theatrical circles for her esoteric, onlinear work. In this piece centered on two African-American brothers trying to escape their family history, the author, says Brantley, "demonstrates that she can shape a captivating narrative without sacrificing her high thematic ambitions."

Diane McWhorter gained the general nonfiction prize for her first book, Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution. As McWhorter has written, she fashioned this study of her city -- before, during and after the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham that galvanized the population locally and nationally -- from the perspective of growing up on the wrong side of the revolution, that is, in the bosom of the city's white elite. And ultimately, she confronted her own father to see whether, in any way, he was a party to acts of bigotry of any kind.

The fiction prize went to Empire Falls, by Richard Russo, a writer who salutes, in his novels, blue-collar (working class) rural America, chiefly the denizens of small towns of the northeastern United States who have seen better times. Empire Falls glimpses that world against the backdrop of the passage of time and history, as the townfolk dream hopeless dreams. As Russo stated in a recent interview, "they think that which is gone is going to come back."

David McCullough, a masterful biographer who won a Pulitzer previously for a study of President Harry S Truman, gained his second honor for his distinguished analysis of the life, times and career of one of the United States' more underrated founding fathers, John Adams.

In the category of history, The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America, by Louis Menand, a literature professor at the City University of New York, was the honoree. The book traces American intellectual thought from the end of the Civil War, in 1865, to the period just after World War I. In particular, Menand focuses on the rise of pragmatism, its uniquely American roots and its debt to experience and experimentation.

Poet Carl Dennis gained Pulitzer honors for poetry this year for his eighth book of verse, Practical Gods. A review of the collection in Publishers Weekly praised Dennis' "warm, accessible approach" as well as his meditative perspective, in which "long, elaborate free-verse sentences amble down odd paths of thoughts, past forested landscapes, furniture, paintings and solitary men."

Arguably, the most curious, yet felicitous disclosure in this year's Pulitzer lineup came in the category of music. Honors went to Henry Brant's Ice Field, the latest in a long series of compositions that Brant has termed "spacial music." It depends for its performance on the manner in which the musicians are situated through the auditorium, as well as onstage. At 88, Brant continues not only to compose, but to perform. When Michael Tilson Thomas raised his baton before more than 100 musicians of the San Francisco Symphony to unveil the piece last December 12, Brant was on hand as organ soloist.

2002 PULITZER PRIZEWINNERS

JOURNALISM

Public Service -- The New York Times.
Breaking News Reporting -- The staff of The Wall Street Journal.
Investigative Reporting -- Sari Horwitz, Scott Higham and Sarah Cohen, The Washington Post.
Explanatory Reporting -- The staff of The New York Times.
Beat Reporting -- Gretchen Morgenson, The New York Times.
National Reporting -- The staff of The Washington Post.
International Reporting -- Barry Bearak, The New York Times.
Feature Writing -- Barry Siegel, The Los Angeles Times.
Commentary -- Thomas Friedman, The New York Times.
Criticism -- Justin Davidson, Newsday.
Editorial Writing -- Alex Raksin and Bob Sipchen, The Los Angeles Times.
Editorial Cartooning -- Clay Bennett, The Christian Science Monitor.
Breaking News Photography -- The staff of The New York Times.
Feature Photography -- The staff of The New York Times.

LETTERS AND DRAMA

Fiction -- Empire Falls, by Richard Russo.
Drama -- Topdog/Underdog, by Suzan-Lori Parks.
History -- The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America, by Louis Menand.
Biography -- John Adams, by David McCullough.
Poetry -- Practical Gods, by Carl Dennis.
General Nonfiction -- Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution, by Diane McWhorter.
Music -- Ice Field, by Henry Brant.