‘Let it be a tale’: Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha wins Pulitzer Prize

Renowned Palestinian poet and author Mosab Abu Toha won this year's Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for a series of essays, published in The New Yorker, detailing the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.

According to the Pulitzer website, Toha was awarded for his essays "on the physical and emotional carnage in Gaza that combine deep reporting with the intimacy of memoir to convey the Palestinian experience of more than a year and a half of war with Israel." The essays published in The New Yorker include "Requiem for a Refugee Camp", "The Gaza We Leave Behind", "The Pain of Travelling While Palestinian", and "My Family's Daily Struggle to Find Food in Gaza." In 2023, Israeli forces detained Mosab Abu Toha while he and his family tried to flee Gaza. He was separated from his family in custody and beaten. He was later released to Egypt, and moved to the US soon after.

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Poets from Palestine: Verses written in tears and blood

"I have just won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary," the poet wrote on X. "Let it bring hope / Let it be a tale." The tweet possibly alludes to the final poem written by Reefat Alareer, a beloved Palestinian poet who was killed in an Israeli air strike in October 2023. The poem was titled, "If I must die, let it be a tale".

Two other Pulitzer Prizes were awarded to The New Yorker: Moises Saman, a contributor, won the prize for Feature Photography, while The New Yorker staff won the prize for Audio Reporting for "In the Dark", an investigative podcast reporting on the killing of 25 unarmed civilians during the Iraq War.

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‘Huckleberry Finn’ through the eyes of Jim

Other Pulitzer Prize winners in the arts included Percival Everett in the Fiction category for his novel James (Doubleday, 2024), Branden Jacobs-Jenkins in the Drama category for his play Purpose, and Marie Howe in the Poetry category for her collection, New and Selected Poems (W. W. Norton & Company, 2024).