Finalist: The Philadelphia Inquirer , by Inga Saffron
For her fascinating and convincing architectural critiques that boldly confront important topics, from urban planning issues to the newest skyscraper.
Winners
Prize Winner in Criticism in 2009:
Holland Cotter
For his wide ranging reviews of art, from Manhattan to China, marked by acute observation, luminous writing and dramatic storytelling.
Criticism
Finalists
Nominated as finalists in Criticism in 2009:
Sebastian Smee
For his fresh, accessible and energetic reviews on the New England art scene, creating for readers a sense of discovery even as he provides discerning analysis.
The Jury
The Jury
Scott L. Powers(chair )
entertainment editor
Martin Bernheimer*
New York music critic
Debby Krenek
managing editor/head of interactive
Richard Locke
professor of writing and director of nonfiction
Bill Rose
managing editor
Winners in Criticism
Mark Feeney
For his penetrating and versatile command of the visual arts, from film and photography to painting.
Jonathan Gold
For his zestful, wide ranging restaurant reviews, expressing the delight of an erudite eater.
Robin Givhan
For her witty, closely observed essays that transform fashion criticism into cultural criticism.
Joe Morgenstern
For his reviews that elucidated the strengths and weaknesses of film with rare insight, authority and wit.
2009 Prize Winners
Patrick Farrell
For his provocative, impeccably composed images of despair after Hurricane Ike and other lethal storms caused a humanitarian disaster in Haiti.
W.S. Merwin
A collection of luminous, often tender poems that focus on the profound power of memory.
Las Vegas Sun, and notably the courageous reporting by Alexandra Berzon
For the exposure of the high death rate among construction workers on the Las Vegas Strip amid lax enforcement of regulations, leading to changes in policy and improved safety conditions.
Staff
For its swift and sweeping coverage of a sex scandal that resulted in the resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, breaking the story on its Web site and then developing it with authoritative, rapid-fire reports.