Pulitzer Prize for Fiction goes to Jennifer Egan
20th April 2011
Jennifer Egan has won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with her critically-acclaimed novel A Visit From the Goon Squad.
Egan, whose latest novel has been described as 'experimental', beat off stiff competition from acclaimed authors Jonathan Dee and Chang-rae Lee to win the prestigious accolade - and GBP 6,000 prize money.
The book, which includes an entire chapter written in the form of a Powerpoint presentation, was described by the prize's judges as 'an inventive investigation of growing up and growing old in the digital age, displaying a big-hearted curiosity about cultural change at warp speed'.
The Pulitzer prize isn't the only accolade Egan has received for A Visit From the Goon Squad, which was inspired by Proust and the Sopranos, with the book having already won the National Book Critics Circle award for fiction.
In celebration, Egan wrote on her Facebook page: 'Won the Pulitzer today!'
The judges for the prize were Elizabeth Taylor, literary editor at the Chicago Tribune, and authors Alan Cheuse and Nicholas Delbanco.