Which author won the 1940 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Grapes of Wrath?

John Steinbeck won the 1940 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Grapes of Wrath.

Published in 1939, the novel follows the Joad family as they leave Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl and travel west toward California. Their migration reflects the experiences of many families displaced by drought, economic collapse, debt, and exploitative labor conditions during the Great Depression.

The book combines the Joads' personal story with broader interchapters about poverty, migration, and social power. Its title comes from “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” linking the novel's economic conflict with a larger moral argument about injustice and collective action.

The Grapes of Wrath was controversial because of its political themes and frank depiction of hardship, but it became a major American success. Steinbeck's Pulitzer helped confirm his place among the leading American novelists of the twentieth century. He later received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962.