Harper Lee won one Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for To Kill a Mockingbird. The award was presented in 1961, the year after the novel’s publication.
The Pulitzer recognized the novel’s literary achievement, including its portrayal of childhood, moral education, and racial injustice in the Depression-era American South. Lee’s book had quickly become a bestseller after its July 1960 release, making the award a major early milestone in her career.
The prize was awarded to the novel, not separately to its characters, its 1962 film adaptation, or a later work. To Kill a Mockingbird was Lee’s first published novel for many years, and she became known largely through this single landmark work. Her second novel, Go Set a Watchman, was published in 2015 and did not win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Another common confusion is assuming that a bestselling author accumulates several Pulitzer Prizes. Lee’s literary legacy is enormous, but her Pulitzer total for fiction remains one.