Here Are Pulitzer Prize Winners, Announced Monday (April 17,2006)

NEW YORK The New York Times and The Washington Post were the top winners as this year’s Pulitzer Prizes for journalism were announced at Columbia University shortly after 3 p.m. ET on Monday afternoon. In an unusual event, there were two winners in two categories, including the coveted Public Service slot -- shared by the Times-Picayune in New Orleans and the Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss.

The Times-Picayune had not been named one of the three finalists for Public Service by the judges--but was elevated into a winner by the Pulitzer Board, as allowed in the procedure.

Sig Gissler, Pulitzer administrator, said today it was only the fifth time there were double winners in Public Service and the sixth time in national reporting.

"It is quite unusual for a Public Service winner to win in another category for essentially the same entry," he said, referring to the Times-Picayune also winning for Breaking News.

Here is the list of winners in the journalism categories, selected by the Pulitzer Board from three finalists in each category picked by judges. The finalists follow. (If you are keeping score at home, E&P's leaked list of Pulitzer finalists, which we posted last month, turned out to be accurate in all 14 categories.)

Copley News Service/The San Diego Union-Tribune (probe of Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham)

The Oregonian of Portland (Rick Attig and Doug Bates on mental health treatment)

The Blade of Toledo ("Coingate" scandal) The Washington Post (package on terrorism) The Sun-Herald of Biloxi, Miss. (Hurricane Katrina)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (courthouse shooting) The Times-Picayune of New Orleans (Hurricane Katrina) South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Hurricane Wilma)

The Washington Post (revelations about lobbyist Jack Abramoff) South Florida Sun-Sentinel (FEMA probe) Los Angeles Times (Getty Museum)

The Washington Post (David Finkel for reports about Yemen) Miami Herald (breakdown in hurricane warning system) Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (rabies)

The Washington Post (Dana Priest, secret prisons) The New York Times (Barry Meier, defective heart implant) Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss. (Jerry Mitchell, civil rights murders)

The New York Times (James Risen and Eric Lightblau, NSA wiretapping revelations) The New York Times (body armor) Copley News Service/The San Diego Union-Tribune (probe of Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham)

The New York Times (China reporting by Joseph Kahn and Jim Yardley) Los Angeles Times (Muslims in Europe) The Washington Post (Iraq coverage by Steve Fainaru)

Chicago Tribune (Mary Schmich) Rocky Mountain News ('Final Salute') The New York Times (Dan Barry)

Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Chris Rose of the Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

Jerry Saltz of the Village Voice, art Nicolai Ouroussoff of The New York Times, architecture Robin Givhan of The Washington Post, fashion

The Sun Herald of Biloxi, Ms. (Katrina) The Oregonian of Portland (mental health treatment) Birmingham (Al.) News (death penalty)

Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Mike Thompson of the Detroit Free Press Marshall Ramsey of the Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss.

Los Angeles Times (Gaza pullout) Dallas Morning News (Katrina) The Associated Press (Katrina)

Los Angeles Times (Catholic priests in Alaska) Rocky Mountain News ('Final Salute') South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Holocaust survivor)

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/042006/04182006/184443

Professor wins Pulitzer Prize

UMW associate professor Claudia Emerson teaches a class in this photo taken in October. She won the Pulitzer Prize on Friday.

University of Mary Washington professor Claudia Emerson has an interview with a radio station at her office yesterday.

Mary Washington professor Claudia Emerson wins the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for poetry.

Date published: 4/18/2006

By KRISTIN DAVIS

She saw it on the Internet.

Then the phone started ringing, and the hallway outside her office got noisy. The room filled with people--hugging, congratulating, bringing flowers.

She wanted to call her mother.

But first she had to talk to an Associated Press reporter about the book that had thrown her into the spotlight.

And that was how the biggest news of Claudia Emerson's professional life unfolded yesterday.

Emerson, an associate professor of English at the University of Mary Washington, has won the Pulitzer Prize in poetry.

It is one of poetry's highest distinctions, and winning it puts Emerson in the company of Robert Frost, Sylvia Plath and Gwendolyn Brooks.

Emerson won for her third and latest book of poems, "Late Wife."

It is her most personal work. In it, she writes of the dissolution of a 19-year marriage.

"I needed to make peace with it, to resolve it," she told The Free Lance-Star in October. "I knew it was going to be hard. I knew it was going to be a risk."

Later in the book, Emerson writes about finding new love, with a man who was widowed after a happy marriage. This section is addressed to Kent Ippolito, Emerson's husband of five years.

Emerson has taught composition and creative writing in the English, Linguistics and Speech Department at Mary Washington since 1998. She's on sabbatical this semester but was at the university yesterday to speak to a colleague's class.

Emerson stopped by her office and flipped on the computer. She knew Pulitzer winners were being announced and was curious to see who won.

According to a news update at 3:30 p.m., she had.

Emerson knew she'd been nominated but thought her chances were slim. Her parents were hopeful, though. Her 81-year-old mother cried when Emerson called with the news.

"She thinks it's great and I should win everything," Emerson said.

She started writing poetry at 28, while managing an out-of-the-way bookstore and delivering mail part time in her hometown of Chatham, near Danville.

Nearing 30, she went to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to get a master of fine arts degree and concentrate on her craft.

It took six years to find a publisher for her first book, "Pharaoh, Pharaoh."

During the impromptu celebration in her office yesterday, Emerson was still taking in the honor.

"Oh, God! I won a Pulitzer Prize," she said, shaking her head.

A student came by and wrapped her in a hug. "As if you weren't my idol already," senior Katy Hershberger said.

Emerson is one of Mary Washington's most popular teachers, and its first Pulitzer Prize winner. Those who land a spot in her creative writing class consider themselves part of a select club.

The phone kept ringing: The New York Times. A radio show. Her mentor, Betty Adcock. People from Louisiana State University Press, which published "Late Wife" and nominated it for the Pulitzer.

Through it all, Emerson prepared a mental list of people she had to call--editors and family and friends from writing school.

She paused to reflect on what a Pulitzer might mean for her future.

Maybe she'll be under more scrutiny. Maybe she'll get invited to do more readings. Maybe the book will sell better.

"It's affirming," she said. "It's a little scary."

Podcasts of Emerson reading poems from her book are available at profcast.org.

To reach KRISTIN DAVIS:540/368-5028
Email: kdavis@freelancestar.com

William M. Anderson Jr., president of the University of Mary Washington, made this statement:

"This is a significant honor, for both Claudia and for the University of Mary Washington. We are very proud of her accomplishments and that Claudia is a member of our faculty.

"It has been apparent to anyone who has taken one of her classes or heard a reading from her works that she is an extraordinary writer, poet and teacher.

"It is gratifying to have these accomplishments acknowledged and recognized by the Pulitzer Committee."

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