Stacey Levine learned of her 2025 Pulitzer Prize fiction finalist status through a Facebook post while at work in Seattle. Her novel Mice 1961, originally from a small press, has now been reissued by Ecco. The development brings wider attention to the author’s distinctive style.
Levine, who has taught creative writing at Seattle Central College for fifteen years, discovered the news on a Monday morning in May 2025. A friend from Elliott Bay Book Company tagged her in a post linking to the Pulitzer website. She described the moment as unexpected, noting she found out alongside other Seattle writers and had to call in sick the next day after receiving emails from the New York Times.
