Chinese American and Seattle author Tessa Hulls has won the Pulitzer Prize for Memoir or Autobiography for her debut book, “Feeding Ghosts.”
The Pulitzer Prize committee, announcing the winners on May 5, called the book “an affecting work of literary art and discovery whose illustrations bring to life three generations of Chinese women—the author, her mother and grandmother, and the experience of trauma handed down with family histories.
“Feeding Ghosts” tells the story of Hulls’ grandmother, Sun Yi, who fled 1949 China with her daughter Rose (Hulls’ mother) and found refuge in Hong Kong. The book dives into the trauma that was passed down through generations, with Hulls reflecting on her relationship with her grandmother, whom she remembers as a “broken ghost.”
Tessa Hulls
Hulls, who’s also known for her work as an artist and community storyteller, spent nearly a decade working on the memoir. It’s been named one of the best books of the year by Time, NPR, and Publishers Weekly.