This year's Met Gala will feature a host committee that includes several Pulitzer Prize winners. Among them is Jason Roberts, who won the award in the biography category for his work "Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life". Additionally, Benjamin Nathans was recognized for his book "To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement".
In the history category, two winners were announced who address racial themes in the history and culture of the United States. "Combee: Harriet Tubman, The Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom During the Civil War" by Edda L. Fields-Black and "Native Nations: A Millennium in North America" by Kathleen DuVal were the awarded works.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who had previously been nominated twice for the Pulitzer for drama, finally won the award for his play "James". This is not the first time Jacobs-Jenkins has received accolades, as he had previously won the National Book Award, the Kirkus Prize, and the Carnegie Medal for Fiction for other works.
Jacobs-Jenkins' racial and editorial satire titled "Erasure" has been adapted into a film, which earned him an Oscar nomination. The Pulitzer described the work "James" as a "successful reconsideration" that addresses racial supremacy and offers a new perspective on the quest for family and freedom, while "Purpose" was praised for being "a skillful blend of drama and comedy that explores how different generations define heritage".
Regarding Jacobs-Jenkins' literary career, he has been recognized with several awards and has been acclaimed by critics. His radical reinvention of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in the novel "James" earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, solidifying him as one of the most prominent authors of today.
