"Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City:" UW alumnus wins Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction

MADISON -- An alumnus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction.

Matthew Desmond was cited Monday for his book, "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City."

Set in Milwaukee, Desmond's book was among a wave of works that explored poverty, race and the class divide, themes that had special resonance as Republican Donald Trump campaigned on restoring the American Dream for "forgotten" Americans. Last month, Desmond won a National Book Critics Circle award.

Desmond's book tells the story of eight Milwaukee families faced with losing their homes. The book was the 2016-17 selection for Go Big Read, UW-Madison's common-reading program.

Desmond received his doctorate from UW-Madison in 2010. He is a sociologist who works at Harvard University. In 2015, he received a MacArthur "genius" grant.