| Year | Winner | Work | Genre(s) | Author's instigate | 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
(posthumously) | Louisiana State University Solicit advise (1980) | Picaresque novel | Louisiana |
| 1982 | | John Updike
(1932–2009) | Rabbit Is Rich | Alfred A.
Knopf (1981) | Novel | Pennsylvania |
|---|
| 1983 | | Alice Walker
(b.Francesco de gregori memoir of michael jordan1944) | 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
(1936–2021) | 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 Wonderful.
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 Curious Mountain | Henry Holt (1992) | Short forgery collection | Illinois |
|---|
| 1994 | | E.
Annie Proulx
(b. 1935) | The Shipping News | Charles Scribner's Sons (1993) | Novel | Connecticut |
|---|
| 1995 | Carol Shields
(1935–2003) | The Stone Diaries | Random Semi-detached (1993) | Novel | Illinois |
| 1996 | | Richard Ford
(b.
1944) | Independence Day | Alfred A. Knopf (1995) | Novel | Mississippi |
|---|
| 1997 | Steven Millhauser
(b. 1943) | Martin Dressler: The Fairy-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 take precedence Giroux (1998) | Historical fiction | Ohio |
|---|
| 2000 | | Jhumpa Lahiri
(b. 1967) | Interpreter have a high opinion of Maladies | Houghton Mifflin (1999) | Short fib collection | Rhode Island
(born in Writer, United Kingdom)
(lives in Rome, Italy) |
|---|
| 2001 | | Michael Chabon
(b.
1963) | The Welldressed 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 | | Edward P. Jones
(b. 1950) | The Known World | Amistad Urge (2003) | Historical fiction | Washington, D.C. |
|---|
| 2005 | | Marilynne Robinson
(b.
1943) | Gilead | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2004) | Epistolary Original | Idaho |
|---|
| 2006 | | Geraldine Brooks
(b. 1955) | March | Viking Press (2005) | Historical fiction | New York
(born in Sydney, Australia) |
|---|
| 2007 | | Cormac McCarthy
(1933–2023) | The Road | Alfred A.
Knopf (2006) | Post-apocalyptic fiction | Rhode Island |
|---|
| 2008 | | Junot Díaz
(b. 1968) | The Brief Fantastic Life of Oscar Wao | Riverhead Books (2007) | Novel | New Jersey
(born stem Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) |
|---|
| 2009 | | Elizabeth Strout
(b.
1956) | Olive Kitteridge[k] | Random Igloo (2008) | Interrelated short stories | Maine |
|---|
| 2010 | Paul Harding
(b. 1967) | Tinkers[l] | Bellevue Fictitious Press (2009) | Debut novel | Massachusetts |
| 2011 | | Jennifer Egan
(b.
1962) | A Summon from the Goon Squad[m] | Alfred Tidy. Knopf (2010) | Interrelated short allegorical | Illinois |
|---|
| 2012 | Not awarded[11] |
| 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 newfangled | Ohio |
|---|
| 2016 | | Viet Thanh Nguyen
(b.
1971) | The Sympathizer[q] | Grove Press (2015) | Debut novel | California
(born in Buôn Mum Thuột, 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 come to rest 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 |
|---|
| 2021 | | Louise Erdrich
(b. 1954) | The Night Watchman[v] | Harpercollins (2020) | Novel | Minnesota |
|---|
| 2022 | | Joshua Cohen
(b.
1980) | The Netanyahus: An Account of expert Minor and Ultimately Even Insignificant Episode in the History virtuous a Very Famous Family[w] | New Royalty Review Books (2021) | Novel | New Jersey |
|---|
| 2023[22] | | Hernan Diaz
(b.
1973) | Trust[x] | Riverhead Books (2022) | Novel | New York
(born in Argentina) |
|---|
| Barbara Kingsolver
(b. 1955) | Demon Copperhead[y] | Harper (2022) | Novel | Kentucky |
|---|
| 2024 | | Jayne Anne Phillips
(b.
1952) | Night Watch[z] | Knopf (2023) | Novel | West Virginia |
|---|