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Earlier today my editor and I were debating the validity of saying that either Graywolf Press or the Minnesota Opera "won" a Pulitzer Prize today.

The fact is that composer Kevin Puts created the music for the opera "Silent Night" which won the Pulitzer for music.

And writer Tracy K. Smith wrote the words that won the Pulitzer for poetry.

But the fact is that neither of those award-winning works would have come into being without these two Minnesota institutions.

A battle scene from the Minnesota Opera production "Silent Night."

The seeds of "Silent Night" were sown five years ago when Minnesota Opera Artistic Director Dale Johnson saw the French movie "

Puts had never written an opera before, but Johnson saw his potential, and the Minnesota Opera commissioned him to compose "Silent Night." Now, Puts has a Pulitzer Prize to add to his resume.

Graywolf Press published Tracy K. Smith's Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of poetry

Graywolf Press has worked with its share of Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, but today is the first time the publishing house had its name on the spine of the prize-winning book. And for editor Jeffrey Shotts, it's a real source of pride.

Shotts served as Smith's editor on all three poetry collections. He says the Pulitzer will increase books sales for Smith, and bring attention to Graywolf's other work. In the long term, he hopes it will also raise awareness of the work of non-profit publishing houses like Graywolf who are committed to shepherding great works into being.

So while Graywolf and Minnesota Opera aren't the first names to appear on the Pulitzer Prize listing, these prize-winning works wouldn't have happened without them.

Arts and Culture

State of the Arts Blog

Marianne Combs

Author

The two Minnesota institutions may not have directly created the work that won today's Pulitzers, but it wouldn't likely have happened without them.

How Graywolf and MN Opera made Pulitzer-prize winning work happen

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