Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan took home rock ‘n’ roll’s first Pulitzer Prize thanks to a special award presented to the iconic songwriter for “his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.” Dylan, humbled by the announcement, said he was in “disbelief.”

Another Pulitzer first occurred when two awards were handed out for poetry. Philip Schultz’s Failure and Robert Hass’ Time and Materials both received honors for distinguished volumes of original verse by an American author. You can read the title poem from Schultz’s collection, as well as hear the poet read it here.

The Washington Post emerged with six Pulitzers, including “Jo Becker and Barton Gellman, who won the national reporting award for documenting the power and secrecy wielded by Vice President Dick Cheney, and to Steve Fainaru, who won the international reporting prize for his examination of private security contractors in Iraq.”

A full list of winners can be found here and here.