Katherine Boo
Encyclopedia
Katherine Boo is an award-winning journalist known primarily for writing about America's poor and disadvantaged.
and began her career in journalism with editorial positions at Washington's City Paper and then the Washington Monthly. From there she went to the Washington Post, from 1993 to 2003.
In 2000, her series for the Post about group homes for the mentally impaired won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
. The Pulitzer judges noted that her work
In 2003, she joined the staff of the New Yorker, to which she had been contributing since 2001.
One of her subsequent articles, "The Marriage Cure," won the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing in 2004. The article chronicled efforts to teach poor people in an Oklahoma community about marriage in hopes that the classes would help people avoid or escape poverty.
Another of Boo's New Yorker articles, "After Welfare," won the 2002 Sidney Hillman Award
, which honors articles that advance the cause of social justice.
She was a senior fellow at the New America Foundation
, from 2002 through 2006. In 2002, she won a MacArthur Fellowship.
Life
A native of Washington, D.C., Boo graduated summa cum laude from Barnard CollegeBarnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
and began her career in journalism with editorial positions at Washington's City Paper and then the Washington Monthly. From there she went to the Washington Post, from 1993 to 2003.
In 2000, her series for the Post about group homes for the mentally impaired won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service has been awarded since 1918 for a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journalistic resources. Those resources, as well as reporting, may include editorials, cartoons, photographs, graphics,...
. The Pulitzer judges noted that her work
"disclosed wretched neglect and abuse in the city’s group homes for the mentally retarded, which forced officials to acknowledge the conditions and begin reforms."
In 2003, she joined the staff of the New Yorker, to which she had been contributing since 2001.
One of her subsequent articles, "The Marriage Cure," won the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing in 2004. The article chronicled efforts to teach poor people in an Oklahoma community about marriage in hopes that the classes would help people avoid or escape poverty.
Another of Boo's New Yorker articles, "After Welfare," won the 2002 Sidney Hillman Award
The Hillman Prize
The Hillman Prize is a journalism award given out annually by the Sidney Hillman Foundation, named for the noted American labor leader. It is given to "journalists, writers and public figures who pursue social justice and public policy for the common good." Murray Kempton was the first recipient,...
, which honors articles that advance the cause of social justice.
She was a senior fellow at the New America Foundation
New America Foundation
The New America Foundation is a non-profit public policy institute and think tank with offices in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, CA. It was founded in 1999 by Ted Halstead, Sherle Schwenninger, Michael Lind and Walter Russell Mead....
, from 2002 through 2006. In 2002, she won a MacArthur Fellowship.
External links
- "The Craft of Writing: Katherine Boo", NPR, JENNIFER LUDDEN, October 16, 2004
- "Katherine Boo: Reporting Across the Income Gap", Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism
- "Boo's Clues", slate, Mickey Kaus, May 18, 2001