Pulitzer Prize for Fiction - wikipedia Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Pulitzer Prizes Joseph Pulitzer Pulitzers by year Winners Journalism Reporting Breaking News Investigative Explanatory Local National International Writing Feature Editorial Photography Breaking News Feature Other Commentary Criticism Editorial Cartooning Public Service Letters Drama Music Biography / Autobiography Fiction General Nonfiction History Poetry Drama Music Special Citations and Awards The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during the preceding calendar year. As the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, it was one of the original Pulitzers ; the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were awarded that year. ( No Novel prize was awarded in 1917 ; the first was awarded in 1918. ) Finalists have been announced since 1980, ordinarily a total of three. Contents 1 Winners 1.1 1910s 1.2 1920s 1.3 1930s 1.4 1940s 1.5 1950s 1.6 1960s 1.7 1970s 1.8 1980s 1.9 1990s 1.10 2000s 1.11 2010s 2 Repeat winners 3 See also 4 References 5 External links Winners In 31 years under the `` Novel '' name, the prize was awarded 27 times ; in its first 69 years to 2016 under the `` Fiction '' name, 62 times. In 11 years, no novel received the award. It has never been shared by two authors. Three writers have won two prizes each in the Fiction category : Booth Tarkington, William Faulkner, and John Updike. 1910s 1918 : His Family by Ernest Poole 1919 : The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington 1920s 1920 : no award given 1921 : The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton 1922 : Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington 1923 : One of Ours by Willa Cather 1924 : The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson 1925 : So Big by Edna Ferber 1926 : Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis ( declined prize ) 1927 : Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield 1928 : The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder 1929 : Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin 1930s 1930 : Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge 1931 : Years of Grace by Margaret Ayer Barnes 1932 : The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck 1933 : The Store by Thomas Sigismund Stribling 1934 : Lamb in His Bosom by Caroline Miller 1935 : Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson 1936 : Honey in the Horn by Harold L. Davis 1937 : Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell 1938 : The Late George Apley by John Phillips Marquand 1939 : The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings 1940s 1940 : The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck 1941 : no award given 1942 : In This Our Life by Ellen Glasgow 1943 : Dragon 's Teeth by Upton Sinclair 1944 : Journey in the Dark by Martin Flavin 1945 : A Bell for Adano by John Hersey 1946 : no award given 1947 : All the King 's Men by Robert Penn Warren 1948 : Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener 1949 : Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens 1950s 1950 : The Way West by A.B. Guthrie, Jr. 1951 : The Town by Conrad Richter 1952 : The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk 1953 : The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway 1954 : No award given 1955 : A Fable by William Faulkner 1956 : Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor 1957 : No award given The Voice At The Back Door by Elizabeth Spencer 1958 : A Death in the Family by James Agee ( posthumous win ) 1959 : The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor 1960s 1960 : Advise and Consent by Allen Drury 1961 : To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 1962 : The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O'Connor 1963 : The Reivers by William Faulkner ( posthumous win ) 1964 : No award given 1965 : The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau 1966 : The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter by Katherine Anne Porter 1967 : The Fixer by Bernard Malamud 1968 : The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron 1969 : House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday 1970s 1970 : The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford 1971 : No award given 1972 : Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner 1973 : The Optimist 's Daughter by Eudora Welty 1974 : No award given Gravity 's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon 1975 : The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara 1976 : Humboldt 's Gift by Saul Bellow 1977 : No award given A River Runs Through It by Norman MacLean Roots by Alex Haley ( special Pulitzer Prize ) 1978 : Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson 1979 : The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever 1980s Entries from this point on include the finalists listed after the winner for each year. 1980 : The Executioner 's Song by Norman Mailer Birdy by William Wharton The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth 1981 : A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole ( posthumous win ) Godric by Frederick Buechner So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell 1982 : Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike A Flag for Sunrise by Robert Stone Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson 1983 : The Color Purple by Alice Walker Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler Rabbis and Wives by Chaim Grade 1984 : Ironweed by William Kennedy Cathedral by Raymond Carver The Feud by Thomas Berger 1985 : Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie I Wish This War Were Over by Diana O'Hehir Leaving the Land by Douglas Unger 1986 : Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler Continental Drift by Russell Banks 1987 : A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor Paradise by Donald Barthelme Whites by Norman Rush 1988 : Beloved by Toni Morrison Persian Nights by Diane Johnson That Night by Alice McDermott 1989 : Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler Where I 'm Calling From by Raymond Carver 1990s 1990 : The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos Billy Bathgate by E.L. Doctorow 1991 : Rabbit at Rest by John Updike Mean Spirit by Linda Hogan The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien 1992 : A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley Jernigan by David Gates Lila : An Inquiry into Morals by Robert M. Pirsig Mao II by Don DeLillo 1993 : A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler At Weddings and Wakes by Alice McDermott Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates 1994 : The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx The Collected Stories of Reynolds Price by Reynolds Price Operation Shylock : A Confession by Philip Roth 1995 : The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields The Collected Stories of Grace Paley by Grace Paley What I Lived For by Joyce Carol Oates 1996 : Independence Day by Richard Ford Mr. Ives ' Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos Sabbath 's Theater by Philip Roth 1997 : Martin Dressler : The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser The Manikin by Joanna Scott Unlocking the Air and Other Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin 1998 : American Pastoral by Philip Roth Bear and His Daughter : Stories by Robert Stone Underworld by Don DeLillo 1999 : The Hours by Michael Cunningham Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver 2000s 2000 : Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri Close Range : Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx Waiting by Ha Jin 2001 : The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates The Quick and the Dead by Joy Williams 2002 : Empire Falls by Richard Russo The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead 2003 : Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides Servants of the Map : Stories by Andrea Barrett You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett 2004 : The Known World by Edward P. Jones American Woman by Susan Choi Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins 2005 : Gilead by Marilynne Robinson An Unfinished Season by Ward Just War Trash by Ha Jin 2006 : March by Geraldine Brooks The Bright Forever by Lee Martin The March by E.L. Doctorow 2007 : The Road by Cormac McCarthy After This by Alice McDermott The Echo Maker by Richard Powers 2008 : The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz Shakespeare 's Kitchen by Lore Segal Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson 2009 : Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout All Souls by Christine Schutt The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich 2010s 2010 : Tinkers by Paul Harding In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin Love in Infant Monkeys by Lydia Millet 2011 : A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan The Privileges by Jonathan Dee The Surrendered by Chang - Rae Lee 2012 : No award given. Train Dreams by Denis Johnson Swamplandia ! by Karen Russell The Pale King by David Foster Wallace ( posthumous nominee ) 2013 : The Orphan Master 's Son by Adam Johnson What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey 2014 : The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt The Son by Philipp Meyer The Woman Who Lost Her Soul by Bob Shacochis 2015 : All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr Let Me Be Frank with You by Richard Ford The Moor 's Account by Laila Lalami Lovely, Dark, Deep by Joyce Carol Oates 2016 : The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen Get in Trouble : Stories by Kelly Link Maud 's Line by Margaret Verble 2017 : The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett The Sport of Kings by C.E. Morgan Repeat winners Three writers to date have won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction multiple times, one nominally in the novel category and two in the general fiction category. Ernest Hemingway was selected by the 1941 and 1953 juries, but the former was overturned and no 1941 award was given. Booth Tarkington, 1919, 1922 William Faulkner, 1955, 1963 ( awarded posthumously ) John Updike, 1982, 1991 See also Novels portal References Jump up ^ `` 1917 Winners ''. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013 - 12 - 19. ^ Jump up to : `` Pulitzer Prize for the Novel ''. The Pulitzer Prizes ( pulitzer.org ). Retrieved 2008 - 08 - 19. Jump up ^ Among the titles the fiction jury considered this year was Joseph Hergesheimer 's Java Head. However, one juror strongly objected to the novel, arguing that it was not `` wholesome '' enough for Pulitzer distinction. Fischer, Heinz Dietrich, and Erika J. Fischer. Chronicle of the Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction : Discussions, Decisions and Documents, Munich, K.G. Saur, 2007. 4. ^ Jump up to : The fiction jury had recommended the 1941 award go to Ernest Hemingway 's For Whom the Bell Tolls. Although the Pulitzer Board initially agreed with that judgment, the president of Columbia University, Nicholas Murray Butler, persuaded the board to reverse its judgment because he deemed the novel offensive, and no award was given that year. McDowell, Edwin. `` Publishing : Pulitzer Controversies. '' New York Times 11 May 1984 : C26. Jump up ^ The fiction jury had recommended the 1957 award to Elizabeth Spencer 's The Voice at the Back Door, but the Pulitzer board, which has sole discretion for awarding the prize, made no award. Source : McDowell, Edwin. `` Publishing : Pulitzer Controversies ''. The New York Times, 11 May 1984 : C26. Jump up ^ The three novels the Pulitzer committee put forth for consideration to the Pulitzer board were : Losing Battles by Eudora Welty ; Mr. Sammler 's Planet by Saul Bellow ; and The Wheel of Love by Joyce Carol Oates. The board rejected all three and opted for no award. Source : Fischer, Heinz - Dietrich. The Pulitzer Prize Archive, Volume 10, `` Novel / Fiction Awards 1917 - 1994 ''. Munich : K.G. Saur, 1994. LX - LXI. Jump up ^ The fiction jury had unanimously recommended the 1974 award to Thomas Pynchon 's Gravity 's Rainbow, but the Pulitzer board, which has sole discretion for awarding the prize, made no award. Source : McDowell, Edwin. `` Publishing : Pulitzer Controversies ''. The New York Times, 11 May 1984 : C26. Jump up ^ The fiction jury had recommended the 1977 award to Norman MacLean 's A River Runs Through It, but the Pulitzer board, which has sole discretion for awarding the prize, made no award. That same year, however, Alex Haley 's iconic family saga Roots was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize. Source : McDowell, Edwin. `` Publishing : Pulitzer Controversies ''. The New York Times, 11 May 1984 : C26. Jump up ^ `` The 2012 Pulitzer Prize Winners : Fiction, '' The Pulitzer Prizes official website. Accessed Dec. 8, 2015. Jump up ^ `` The 2016 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Fiction ''. Pulitzer.org. Retrieved 24 December 2017. Jump up ^ `` 2017 Pulitzer Prizes ''. Pulitzer.org. Retrieved 24 December 2017. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pulitzer Prize for the Novel winners. Official website for Pulitzer Prize : for the Novel and for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize Thumbnails Project Michael 's Cunningam 's `` Letter from the Pulitzer Fiction Jury : What Really Happened This Year, '' The New Yorker -- Part One ( July 9, 2012 ) and Part Two ( July 10, 2012 ) Pulitzer Prizes 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 1918 -- 1925 His Family by Ernest Poole ( 1918 ) The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington ( 1919 ) The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton ( 1921 ) Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington ( 1922 ) One of Ours by Willa Cather ( 1923 ) The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson ( 1924 ) So Big by Edna Ferber ( 1925 ) 1926 -- 1950 Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis ( declined ) ( 1926 ) Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield ( 1927 ) The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder ( 1928 ) Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin ( 1929 ) Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge ( 1930 ) Years of Grace by Margaret Ayer Barnes ( 1931 ) The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck ( 1932 ) The Store by Thomas Sigismund Stribling ( 1933 ) Lamb in His Bosom by Caroline Pafford Miller ( 1934 ) Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson ( 1935 ) Honey in the Horn by Harold L. Davis ( 1936 ) Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell ( 1937 ) The Late George Apley by John Phillips Marquand ( 1938 ) The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings ( 1939 ) The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck ( 1940 ) In This Our Life by Ellen Glasgow ( 1942 ) Dragon 's Teeth by Upton Sinclair ( 1943 ) Journey in the Dark by Martin Flavin ( 1944 ) A Bell for Adano by John Hersey ( 1945 ) All the King 's Men by Robert Penn Warren ( 1947 ) Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener ( 1948 ) Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens ( 1949 ) The Way West by A.B. Guthrie Jr. ( 1950 ) 1951 -- 1975 The Town by Conrad Richter ( 1951 ) The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk ( 1952 ) The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway ( 1953 ) A Fable by William Faulkner ( 1955 ) Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor ( 1956 ) A Death in the Family by James Agee ( 1958 ) The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor ( 1959 ) Advise and Consent by Allen Drury ( 1960 ) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee ( 1961 ) The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O'Connor ( 1962 ) The Reivers by William Faulkner ( 1963 ) The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau ( 1965 ) The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter by Katherine Anne Porter ( 1966 ) The Fixer by Bernard Malamud ( 1967 ) The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron ( 1968 ) House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday ( 1969 ) The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford ( 1970 ) Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner ( 1972 ) The Optimist 's Daughter by Eudora Welty ( 1973 ) The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara ( 1975 ) 1976 -- 2000 Humboldt 's Gift by Saul Bellow ( 1976 ) Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson ( 1978 ) The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever ( 1979 ) The Executioner 's Song by Norman Mailer ( 1980 ) A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole ( 1981 ) Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike ( 1982 ) The Color Purple by Alice Walker ( 1983 ) Ironweed by William Kennedy ( 1984 ) Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie ( 1985 ) Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry ( 1986 ) A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor ( 1987 ) Beloved by Toni Morrison ( 1988 ) Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler ( 1989 ) The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos ( 1990 ) Rabbit at Rest by John Updike ( 1991 ) A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley ( 1992 ) A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler ( 1993 ) The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx ( 1994 ) The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields ( 1995 ) Independence Day by Richard Ford ( 1996 ) Martin Dressler : The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser ( 1997 ) American Pastoral by Philip Roth ( 1998 ) The Hours by Michael Cunningham ( 1999 ) Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri ( 2000 ) 2001 -- present The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon ( 2001 ) Empire Falls by Richard Russo ( 2002 ) Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides ( 2003 ) The Known World by Edward P. Jones ( 2004 ) Gilead by Marilynne Robinson ( 2005 ) March by Geraldine Brooks ( 2006 ) The Road by Cormac McCarthy ( 2007 ) The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz ( 2008 ) Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout ( 2009 ) Tinkers by Paul Harding ( 2010 ) A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan ( 2011 ) No award given ( 2012 ) The Orphan Master 's Son by Adam Johnson ( 2013 ) The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt ( 2014 ) All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr ( 2015 ) The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen ( 2016 ) The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead ( 2017 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pulitzer_Prize_for_Fiction&oldid=830766648 '' Categories : Pulitzer Prizes by category American literary awards Awards established in 1948 Fiction awards Hidden categories : Commons category with local link different than on Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Беларуская Bosanski Català Deutsch Ελληνικά فارسی Français Frysk 한국어 Hrvatski Italiano Kiswahili Latina Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پنجابی Português Русский Shqip Simple English Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 23 more Edit links This page was last edited on 16 March 2018, at 20 : 29. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what book won the pulitzer prize for fiction in 1980
Answer: The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer