Los Angeles Times, New York Times top 2011 Pulitzer winners

The New York Times, a perennial Pulitzer winner, won two of the prizes this year in international reporting and commentary. STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe papers snag two awards eachA prize is not given in the breaking news reporting categoryJennifer Egan's "A Visit from the Goon Squad" wins for fictionRELATED TOPICSPulitzer PrizesThe New York Times CompanyLos Angeles TimesJournalismBooks and Literature (CNN) -- The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times were awarded two Pulitzer Prizes each Monday for their outstanding work in journalism.

The New York Times' Clifford J. Levy and Ellen Barry won in the international reporting category for their work on the struggling Russian justice system, while the paper's David Leonhardt won for commentary.

The Los Angeles Times won in the public service category for its coverage of Bell, a small California city where officials' sky-high salaries sparked national outrage and then arrests. The paper's Barbara Davidson won for feature photography.

Surprisingly, given big news stories last year like the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the earthquake in Haiti, the prize board did not name a winner in the breaking news reporting category, a traditional favorite.

Finalists in that category included the Chicago Tribune staff, for its coverage of the deaths of two Chicago firefighters, the staff at The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, for their coverage of the Haiti earthquake, and the staff of The Tennessean for its coverage of a devastating flood, the board said.

The Pulitzer Prizes are U.S. awards handed out once a year to recognize outstanding work in journalism and the arts.

Read bios and more about this year's winners

Jennifer Egan's book, "A Visit from the Goon Squad," won the award for fiction. Her book is about growing up and old in the digital age, the board said. In the music category, Zhou Long won for "Madame White Snake," which was premiered by Opera Boston at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in February 2010.

Paige St. John of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Florida won the investigative reporting award for her coverage of the state's property-insurance system. ProPublica's Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein won in the national reporting category, while three photographers at The Washington Post won for breaking news photography for their work around the earthquake in Haiti.

Here is a complete list of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize Winners:

JOURNALISM

Public Service -- Los Angeles Times

Breaking News Reporting -- No Award

Investigative Reporting -- Paige St. John of Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Explanatory Reporting -- Mark Johnson, Kathleen Gallagher, Gary Porter, Lou Saldivar and Alison Sherwood of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Local Reporting -- Frank Main, Mark Konkol and John J. Kim of Chicago Sun-Times

National Reporting --Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein of ProPublica

International Reporting -- Clifford J. Levy and Ellen Barry of The New York Times

Feature Writing --Amy Ellis Nutt of The Star-Ledger, Newark, New Jersey

Commentary -- David Leonhardt of The New York Times

Criticism -- Sebastian Smee of The Boston Globe

Editorial Writing -- Joseph Rago of The Wall Street Journal

Editorial Cartooning -- Mike Keefe of The Denver Post

Breaking News Photography -- Carol Guzy, Nikki Kahn and Ricky Carioti of The Washington Post

Feature Photography -- Barbara Davidson of Los Angeles Times

ARTS

Fiction -- "A Visit from the Goon Squad" by Jennifer Egan (Alfred A. Knopf)

Drama -- "Clybourne Park" by Bruce Norris

History -- "The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery" by Eric Foner (W. W. Norton & Company)

Biography -- "Washington: A Life" by Ron Chernow (The Penguin Press)

Poetry -- "The Best of It: New and Selected Poems" by Kay Ryan (Grove Press)

General Nonfiction -- "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" by Siddhartha Mukherjee (Scribner)

Music -- "Madame White Snake'" by Zhou Long (Oxford University Press)

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