Pulitzer Prize Challenge

 

"Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light." - Joseph Pulitzer

In case you've always wondered how it's pronounced, the correct pronunciation is "PULL-it-sir."  (That's straight from the Pulitzer Website FAQs.)

This year marks the centennial of the Pulitzer Prizes awarding. "We're celebrating by telling stories on the prize winners, finalists and their work, and by partnering with individuals and organizations to host events across the country." 

People all around New Mexico have joined the Pulitzer Prize Challenge and are reading five books in five months to commemorate the centennial of the Pulitzer Prize. The Pulitzer Prize Board announced the Campfires Initiative to ignite community engagement and discussion of the literary, journalistic and artistic values Pulitzer Prize winners represent. The New Mexico Humanities Council has been chosen, among other state councils, to participate in the initiative. Libraries across New Mexico have been holding book discussions on five chosen titles:

 
Beloved by Toni Morrison 

The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich 

The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz 

The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever 

Lovely, Dark, Deep  by Joyce Carol Oates

If you missed most of the book discussions, you can still pick up one of the five titles at your library and challenge yourself to reading a distinctive Pulitzer winner or finalist. And you still have time to catch the last two group discussion at South Broadway Library: 

Lovely, Dark, Deep - November 19^th 
Beloved - December 17th ...and If 5 books is not enough of a challenge for you, download the Pulitzer Bookmark and read the fiction winners from the first 50 years: 1917-1966.