Living Canon

Pulitzer Prizes 1962: Complete list of winners

The 1962 Pulitzer Prizes captured a particular moment in American letters—one brimming with confidence and commercial success alongside serious literary achievement. Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows’s How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying took the Drama prize, a gleeful musical satire that was simultaneously a Broadway phenomenon and genuinely sharp social commentary. Meanwhile, Edwin O’Connor’s The Edge of Sadness claimed the Fiction award, adding another Boston-set novel to the Pulitzer canon. Theodore H. White’s The Making of the President 1960 dominated the General Nonfiction category, establishing the template for campaign journalism that would influence political reporting for decades to come.

That year’s history and poetry winners remind us that the Pulitzer Prizes have always balanced popular appetite with scholarly rigor. Lawrence H. Gipson’s massive The Triumphant Empire: Thunder-Clouds Gather in the West 1763-1766 represented serious academic work in early American history, while Alan Dugan’s Poems signaled the Pulitzer’s enduring commitment to recognizing lyric innovation. The 1962 Pulitzer Prize announcements showcased a literary establishment confident enough to celebrate both a Broadway hit and an obscure poet—a democratizing impulse that remains central to why these awards matter.

Below, discover the complete list of 1962 Pulitzer Prize winners across all categories:

Drama

Fiction

General Nonfiction

History

Poetry