April 13, 2010 Author T.J. Stiles has already received the National Book Award among other honors for his bestselling book, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt. The Pulitzer Prize Board added to the acclaim by naming Stiles the winner in this year’s Biography category.

In announcing the honor, the Pulitzer committee called the book “a penetrating portrait of a complex, self-made titan who revolutionized transportation, amassed vast wealth and shaped the economic world in ways still felt today.”

April 13, 2010 Hank Williams Sr. died too young to receive the kind of acclaim that accrues with time spent as a working artist. As a singer, a songwriter, and a musician, he was famous when alive but has become a legend since his death in 1953. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961, the National Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. And now, for his unparalleled contributions to American music, the Pulitzer Prize Board has awarded a posthumous Special Citation to Williams.

April 12, 2010 Abraham Verghese’s Cutting For Stone has been named the 2010 Book of the Year in the category of adult fiction. The award is given by the American Booksellers Association, which represents independent bookstores. Read the formal announcement—and a list of winners in all catgories—here. Paul Griffith’s interview with Abraham Verghese for Chapter 16 is available here.