American · b. 1969
Colson Whitehead won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction twice—for "The Underground Railroad" in 2017 and "The Nickel Boys" in 2020—joining an elite company that includes William Faulkner and John Updike. The American author reimagines American history through speculative and realistic lenses, finding in the past the ongoing trauma of race. "The Underground Railroad" transformed metaphor into literal subway; "The Nickel Boys" documented reform school abuse. Whitehead's range—from zombie novel to literary fiction—demonstrates mastery across modes.