Brooklyn writer, Lynn Nottage, won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize, for her story of African women's survival against a backdrop of an African civil war.

Her play is called "Ruined," referring to the condition of a woman after she is raped and genitally mutilated. While she usually focuses on African-American New York women in her previous works, she tells the New York Daily News that she had a sense of urgency to pen the play.

"I went further afield with 'Ruined,'" she said. "I went in search of my African sisters. When I wrote it, I felt a greater sense of urgency simply because I feel the conflict is still raging, but interest is fading."

She also hopes it will help shed light on the conflict still brewing in the Congo.

"I hope it will raise awareness about the issues that the play raises. The war ended in 2002, but the conflict and violence against women continues," Nottage explained.

Nottage's drama is set in a Congolese brothel, telling the story of the watering hole's charismatic proprietor, Mama Nadi, and several young women who work for her who have been brutalized in the conflict.

Although it may not sound like it from description, "Ruined" is filled with humor, music and hope, reports the Daily News.

In winning the Pulitzer for drama, 44-year-old Nottage won a $10,000 cash prize, a portion of which she plans to pass to the Panzi Hospital in the Congo, which does reconstructive surgery for women.

"Ruined" is running at Manhattan Theatre Club at 131 W. 55th St. in New York.

Pulitzer nominees are chosen by a small committee of theater critics and artists, and the Pulitzer board picks a winner.