Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Pulitzer Prize


Let`s continue the saga of posts on Literature :) as you can see, I really enjoy the subject.
Well, this Monday the Pulitzer Prizes have been awarded, and I couldn't not mention anything about it.
First of all, do you know what the Pulitzer Prize is and how it came to be? Everything started a long time ago with an experienced and revolutionary journalist: Joseph Pulitzer. He was so interested and fond of his work, that in his will he donated US$ 2,000,000 to Columbia University so that the first School of Journalism could be opened. As a result, Pulitzer Prizes are awarded mostly in the field of journalism (14 awards). In his will, though, Joseph Pulitzer also explicitly requested that important work in literature, drama and music also be rewarded.
In response to Pulitzer`s will, since 1917 every year the Pulitzer Prizes are awarded to those that proved excellence in journalism, music, literature and drama. The Board that choses the winners is composed y the president of Columbia University, the dean of the School of Journalism and other important teachers and journalists.
This year i know that 6 Pulitzer Prizes went to the Washington Post (the newspaper I tend to read almost daily), one went to Bob Dylan and another one went to an author I had never heard before coming to the US. It was on the cover of the Style section of the Post, in Septemer, that I saw his picture and read one of the first reviews of his (then new) book. This author is original of Republica Dominicana, but lived in the US for most of his life. He is an accredited writer but also a professor at the MIT. His name is Junot Diaz, and his book is " "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao". It is a book about immigrants from Dominican Republic, it is a book about cultural shock and cultural mixture, it is a book written in code-switching. In short, it is a book I can`t wait to read :) I`d better hurry up with Jane Eyre....

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