Indian origin poet Vijay Seshadri wins 2014 Pulitzer Prize

Vijay Seshadri, Indian origin US poet, has bagged the prestigious 2014 Pulitzer Prize in the poetry category for his collection of poems "3 Sections." Seshadri's '3 Sections' is a compelling collection of poems that examine human consciousness, from birth to dementia, in a voice that is by turns witty and grave, compassionate and remorseless.

Born in Bangalore, Seshadri currently teaches poetry and non-fiction writing at liberal arts college Sarah Lawrence in New York. His collections of poems include James Laughlin Award winner The Long Meadow (Graywolf Press, 2004) and Wild Kingdom (1996).

Seshadri is the fifth person of Indian origin to bag the prestigious award, the first being Gobind Behari Lal in 1937 in the reporting category for his coverage of science at the tercentenary of Harvard University.  Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri got Pulitzer for fiction in 2000 for her collection of stories "Interpreters of Maladies". Journalist-writer of Indian origin Geeta Anand was the next to get the award in 2003 for Explanatory Reporting. Indian-American physician Siddhartha Mukherjee won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in the general non-fiction category for his book 'The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer'.

List of winners of 2014 Pulitzer Prize

Journalism

Public Service: The Guardian US & The Washington Post
Breaking News Reporting: Staff of The Boston Globe
Investigative Reporting: Chris Hamby of The Center for Public Integrity, Washington, DC
Explanatory Reporting: Eli Saslow of The Washington Post
Local Reporting: Will Hobson and Michael LaForgia of Tampa Bay Times
National Reporting: David Philipps of The Gazette, Colorado Springs, CO
International Reporting: Jason Szep and Andrew R.C. Marshall of Reuters
Commentary: Stephen Henderson of Detroit Free Press
Criticism: Inga Saffron of The Philadelphia Inquirer
Editorial Writing: Editorial Staff of The Oregonian, Portland
Editorial Cartooning: Kevin Siers of The Charlotte Observer
Breaking News Photography: Tyler Hicks of The New York Times
Feature Photography: Josh Haner of The New York Times
This year no award was given in Feature Writing category

Letters, Drama, and Music

Fiction: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown)
Drama: The Flick by Annie Baker
History: The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832 by Alan Taylor (W.W. Norton)
Biography or Autobiography: Margaret Fuller: A New American Life by Megan Marshall (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Poetry: 3 Sections by Vijay Seshadri (Graywolf Press)
General Non-fiction: Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation by Dan Fagin (Bantam Books)
Music: Become Ocean by John Luther Adams (Taiga Press/Theodore Front Musical Literature)

Established by Hungarian-American publisher Joseph Pulitzer, the Pulitzer Prize is administered by Columbia University in New York City. Each winner receives a certificate and a $10,000 cash award.