Year
|
Winner
|
Work
|
Genre(s)
|
State Origin
|
Finalists
|
---|
1980
|
|
Norman Mailer (1923-2007)
|
The Executioner's Song
|
Little, Brown (1979)
|
True crime novel
|
New Jersey
|
|
---|
1981
|
|
John Kennedy Toole (1937-1969)
|
A Confederacy of Dunces (posthumous win)
|
Louisiana State University Press (1980)
|
Picaresque novel
|
Louisiana
|
|
---|
1982
|
|
John Updike (1932-2009)
|
Rabbit Is Rich
|
Alfred A. Knopf (1981)
|
Novel
|
Pennsylvania
|
|
---|
1983
|
|
Alice Walker (b. 1944)
|
The Color Purple
|
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (1982)
|
Epistolary novel
|
Georgia
|
|
---|
1984
|
|
William Kennedy (b. 1928)
|
Ironweed
|
Viking Press (1983)
|
Novel
|
New York
|
|
---|
1985
|
|
Alison Lurie (1926-2020)
|
Foreign Affairs
|
Random House (1984)
|
Novel
|
Illinois
|
|
---|
1986
|
|
Larry McMurtry (b. 1936)
|
Lonesome Dove
|
Simon & Schuster (1985)
|
Western novel
|
Texas
|
|
---|
1987
|
|
Peter Taylor (1917-1994)
|
A Summons to Memphis
|
Alfred A. Knopf (1986)
|
Novel
|
Tennessee
|
|
---|
1988
|
|
Toni Morrison (1931-2019)
|
Beloved
|
Alfred A. Knopf (1987)
|
Novel
|
Ohio
|
|
---|
1989
|
|
Anne Tyler (b. 1941)
|
Breathing Lessons
|
Alfred A. Knopf (1988)
|
Novel
|
Minnesota
|
|
---|
1990
|
|
Oscar Hijuelos (1951-2013)
|
The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love
|
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1989)
|
Novel
|
New York
|
|
---|
1991
|
|
John Updike (1932-2009)
|
Rabbit At Rest
|
Alfred A. Knopf (1990)
|
Novel
|
Pennsylvania
|
|
---|
1992
|
|
Jane Smiley (b. 1949)
|
A Thousand Acres
|
Alfred A. Knopf (1991)
|
Domestic Realism
|
California
|
|
---|
1993
|
|
Robert Olen Butler (b. 1945)
|
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
|
Henry Holt (1992)
|
Short story collection
|
Illinois
|
|
---|
1994
|
|
Annie Proulx (b. 1935)
|
The Shipping News
|
Charles Scribner's Sons (1993)
|
Novel
|
Connecticut
|
|
---|
1995
|
|
Carol Shields (1935-2005)
|
The Stone Diaries
|
Random House (1993)
|
Novel
|
Illinois
|
|
---|
1996
|
|
Richard Ford (b. 1944)
|
Independence Day
|
Alfred A. Knopf (1995)
|
Novel
|
Mississippi
|
|
---|
1997
|
|
Steven Millhauser (b. 1943)
|
Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer
|
Crown Publishers (1996)
|
Novel
|
New York
|
|
---|
1998
|
|
Philip Roth (1933-2018)
|
American Pastoral
|
Houghton Mifflin (1997)
|
Novel
|
New Jersey
|
|
---|
1999
|
|
Michael Cunningham (b. 1952)
|
The Hours
|
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1998)
|
Historical fiction
|
Ohio
|
|
---|
2000
|
|
Jhumpa Lahiri (b. 1967)
|
Interpreter of Maladies
|
Houghton Mifflin (1999)
|
Short story collection
|
Rhode Island (born in London, United Kingdom) (lives in Rome, Italy)
|
|
---|
2001
|
|
Michael Chabon (b. 1963)
|
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
|
Random House (2000)
|
Historical fiction
|
Washington, D.C.
|
|
---|
2002
|
|
Richard Russo (b. 1949)
|
Empire Falls
|
Alfred A. Knopf (2001)
|
Novel
|
New York
|
|
---|
2003
|
|
Jeffrey Eugenides (b. 1960)
|
Middlesex
|
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2002)
|
Family saga
|
Michigan
|
|
---|
2004
|
|
Edwrad Paul Jones (b. 1950)
|
The Known World
|
Amistad Press (2003)
|
Historical fiction
|
Washington, D.C.
|
|
---|
2005
|
|
Marilynne Robinson (b. 1943)
|
Gilead
|
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2004)
|
Novel
|
Idaho
|
|
---|
2006
|
|
Geraldine Brooks (b. 1955)
|
March
|
Viking Press (2005)
|
Historical fiction
|
New York (born in Sydney, Australia)
|
|
---|
2007
|
|
Cormac McCarthy (b. 1933)
|
The Road
|
Alfred A. Knopf (2006)
|
Post-apocalyptic fiction
|
Rhode Island
|
|
---|
2008
|
|
Junot Díaz (b. 1968)
|
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
|
Riverhead Books (2007)
|
Novel
|
New Jersey (born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
|
|
---|
2009
|
|
Elizabeth Strout (b. 1956)
|
Olive Kitteridge[k] |
Random House (2008)
|
Interrelated short stories
|
Maine
|
|
---|
2010
|
|
Paul Harding (b. 1967)
|
Tinkers[l] |
Bellevue Literary Press (2009)
|
Debut novel
|
Massachusetts
|
|
---|
2011
|
|
Jennifer Egan (b. 1962)
|
A Visit from the Goon Squad[m] |
Alfred A. Knopf (2010)
|
Interrelated short stories
|
Illinois
|
|
---|
2012
|
Not awarded[10] |
|
2013
|
|
Adam Johnson (b. 1967)
|
The Orphan Master's Son[n] |
Random House (2012)
|
Novel
|
South Dakota
|
|
---|
2014
|
|
Donna Tartt (b. 1963)
|
The Goldfinch[o] |
Little, Brown and Company (2013)
|
Novel
|
Mississippi
|
|
---|
2015
|
|
Anthony Doerr (b. 1973)
|
All the Light We Cannot See[p] |
Charles Scribner's Sons (2014)
|
War novel
|
Ohio
|
|
---|
2016
|
|
Viet Thanh Nguyen (b. 1971)
|
The Sympathizer[q] |
Grove Press (2015)
|
Debut novel
|
California (born in Buôn Ma Thu?t, Vietnam)
|
|
---|
2017
|
|
Colson Whitehead (b. 1969)
|
The Underground Railroad[r] |
Doubleday (2016)
|
Alternate historical novel
|
New York
|
|
---|
2018
|
|
Andrew Sean Greer (b. 1970)
|
Less[s] |
Little, Brown and Company (2017)
|
Satirical novel
|
Washington, D.C.
|
|
---|
2019
|
|
Richard Powers (b. 1957)
|
The Overstory[t] |
W. W. Norton & Company (2018)
|
Novel
|
Illinois
|
|
---|
2020
|
|
Colson Whitehead (b. 1969)
|
The Nickel Boys[u] |
Doubleday (2019)
|
Novel
|
New York
|
|
---|