Pulitzer Prize for Fiction explained
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during the preceding calendar year.
As the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel (awarded 1918–1947), it was one of the original Pulitzers; the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were awarded that year [1] (no Novel prize was awarded in 1917, the first one having been granted in 1918).[2]
The name was changed to the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1948, and eligibility was expanded to also include short stories, novellas, novelettes, and poetry, as well as novels.
Finalists have been announced since 1980, usually a total of three.[2]
Definition
As defined in the original Plan of Award, the prize was given "Annually, for the American novel published during the year which shall best present the wholesome atmosphere of American life, and the highest standard of American manners and manhood," although there was some struggle over whether the word wholesome should be used instead of whole, the word Pulitzer had written in his will.[3] In 1927, the advisory board quietly instituted Pulitzer's word choice, replacing wholesome with whole.
With 1929 came the first of several much more substantive changes. The board changed the wording to "preferably one which shall best present the whole atmosphere of American life" and deleted the insistence that the novel portray "the highest standard of American manners and manhood". In 1936, emphasis was changed again, with the award going to "a distinguished novel published during the year by an American author, preferably dealing with American life". In 1948, the advisory board widened the scope of the award with the wording "For distinguished fiction published in book form during the year by an American author, preferably dealing with American life."[3] This change allowed the prize to go to a collection of short stories for the first time, James Michener's Tales of the South Pacific.
Winners
In 31 years under the "Novel" name, the prize was awarded 27 times; in its first 76 years to 2023 under the "Fiction" name, 69 times. There have been 11 years during which no title received the award. It was shared by two authors for the first time in 2023.[2] Since this category's inception in 1918, 31 women have won the prize. Four authors have won two prizes each in the Fiction category: Booth Tarkington, William Faulkner, John Updike, and Colson Whitehead.
Because the award is for books published in the preceding calendar year, the "Year" column links to the preceding year in literature.
1910s to 1970s
| Year | Winner | Work | Genre(s) | Author's origin |
|---|
| 1918 | | Ernest Poole
(1880–1950) | His Family | Macmillan (1917) | Novel | Illinois |
|---|
| 1919 | | Booth Tarkington
(1869–1949) | The Magnificent Ambersons | Doubleday, Page & Co. (1918) | Novel | Indiana |
|---|
| 1920 | Not awarded |
| 1921 | | Edith Wharton
(1862–1937) | The Age of Innocence | D. Appleton & Company (1920) | Novel | New York |
|---|
| 1922 | | Booth Tarkington
(1869–1949) | Alice Adams | Doubleday, Page & Co. (1921) | Novel | Indiana |
|---|
| 1923 | | Willa Cather
(1873–1947) | One of Ours | Alfred A. Knopf (1922) | Novel | Virginia |
|---|
| 1924 | < | -- violation: --> | Margaret Wilson
(1882–1973) | The Able McLaughlins | Harper & Brothers (1923) | Debut novel | Iowa |
|---|
| 1925 | | Edna Ferber
(1885–1968) | So Big | Grosset & Dunlap (1924) | Novel | Michigan |
|---|
| 1926 | | Sinclair Lewis
(1885–1951) | Arrowsmith | Harcourt Brace & Co. (1925) | Novel | Minnesota |
|---|
| 1927 | | Louis Bromfield
(1896–1956) | Early Autumn | Amereon Ltd (1926) | Novel | Ohio |
|---|
| 1928 | | Thornton Wilder
(1897–1975) | The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Albert & Charles Boni (1927) | Novel | Wisconsin |
|---|
| 1929 | | Julia Peterkin
(1880–1961) | Scarlet Sister Mary | Bobbs-Merrill Company (1928) | Novel | South Carolina |
|---|
| 1930 | < | -- violation: --> | Oliver La Farge
(1901–1963) | Laughing Boy | Houghton Mifflin (1929) | Novel | New York |
|---|
| 1931 | < | -- violation: --> | Margaret Ayer Barnes
(1886–1967) | Years of Grace | Houghton Mifflin (1930) | Novel | Illinois |
|---|
| 1932 | | Pearl S. Buck
(1892–1973) | The Good Earth | John Day Company (1931) | Historical fiction | West Virginia |
|---|
| 1933 | | T. S. Stribling
(1881–1965) | The Store | Doubleday, Doran (1932) | Novel | Tennessee |
|---|
| 1934 | < | -- violation: --> | Caroline Miller
(1903–1992) | Lamb in His Bosom | Harper & Brothers (1933) | Debut novel | Georgia |
|---|
| 1935 | < | -- violation: --> | Josephine Winslow Johnson
(1910–1990) | Now in November | Simon & Schuster (1934) | Debut novel | Missouri |
|---|
| 1936 | < | -- violation: --> | Harold L. Davis
(1894–1960) | Honey in the Horn | Harper & Brothers (1935) | Debut novel | Oregon |
|---|
| 1937 | | Margaret Mitchell
(1900–1949) | Gone with the Wind | Macmillan Publishers (1936) | Novel | Georgia |
|---|
| 1938 | < | -- violation: --> | John Phillips Marquand
(1893–1960) | The Late George Apley | Little, Brown and Company (1937) | Epistolary novel | Delaware |
|---|
| 1939 | | Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
(1896–1953) | The Yearling | Charles Scribner's Sons (1938) | Young adult novel | Washington, D.C. |
|---|
| 1940 | | John Steinbeck
(1902–1968) | The Grapes of Wrath | Viking Press (1939) | Novel | California |
|---|
| 1941 | Not awarded |
| 1942 | | Ellen Glasgow
(1873–1945) | In This Our Life | Jonathan Cape (1941) | Novel | Virginia |
|---|
| 1943 | | Upton Sinclair
(1878–1968) | Dragon's Teeth | Viking Press (1942) | Historical fiction | Maryland |
|---|
| 1944 | | Martin Flavin
(1883–1967) | Journey in the Dark | Harper & Brothers (1943) | Novel | California |
|---|
| 1945 | | John Hersey
(1914–1993) | A Bell for Adano | Alfred A. Knopf (1944) | War novel | New York
(born in Tianjin, China) |
|---|
| 1946 | Not awarded |
| 1947 | | Robert Penn Warren
(1905–1989) | All the King's Men | Harcourt, Brace & Company (1946) | Political fiction | Kentucky |
|---|
| 1948 | | James A. Michener
(1907–1997) | Tales of the South Pacific | Macmillan Publishers (1947) | Interrelated short stories,
Book debut | Pennsylvania |
|---|
| 1949 | | James Gould Cozzens
(1903–1978) | Guard of Honor | Harcourt, Brace & Company (1948) | War novel | Illinois |
|---|
| 1950 | | A. B. Guthrie
(1901–1991) | The Way West | William Sloane Associates (1949) | Western fiction | Indiana |
|---|
| 1951 | < | -- violation: --> | Conrad Richter
(1890–1968) | The Town | Alfred A. Knopf (1950) | Novel | Pennsylvania |
|---|
| 1952 | | Herman Wouk
(1915–2019) | The Caine Mutiny | Doubleday (1951) | Historical fiction | New York |
|---|
| 1953 | | Ernest Hemingway
(1899–1961) | The Old Man and the Sea | Charles Scribner's Sons (1952) | Short novel | Illinois |
|---|
| 1954 | Not awarded |
| 1955 | | William Faulkner
(1897–1962) | A Fable | Random House (1954) | Novel | Mississippi |
|---|
| 1956 | | MacKinlay Kantor
(1904–1977) | Andersonville | Penguin Books (1955) | Historical fiction | Iowa |
|---|
| 1957 | Not awarded |
| 1958 | < | -- violation: --> | James Agee
(1909–1955) | A Death in the Family
(posthumously) | McDowell, Obolensky (1957) | Autobiographical novel | Tennessee |
|---|
| 1959 | | Robert Lewis Taylor
(1912–1998) | The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters | Doubleday (1958) | Historical fiction | Illinois |
|---|
| 1960 | | Allen Drury
(1918–1998) | Advise and Consent | Doubleday (1959) | Political fiction,
Debut novel | Texas |
|---|
| 1961 | | Harper Lee
(1926–2016) | To Kill a Mockingbird | J. B. Lippincott & Co. (1960) | Southern Gothic,
Bildungsroman,
Debut novel | Alabama |
|---|
| 1962 | | Edwin O'Connor
(1918–1968) | The Edge of Sadness | Little, Brown and Company (1961) | Novel | Rhode Island |
|---|
| 1963 | | William Faulkner
(1897–1962) | The Reivers
(posthumously) | Random House (1962) | Novel | Mississippi |
|---|
| 1964 | Not awarded |
| 1965 | | Shirley Ann Grau
(1929–2020) | The Keepers of the House | Alfred A. Knopf (1964) | Novel | Louisiana |
|---|
| 1966 | < | -- violation: --> | Katherine Anne Porter
(1890–1980) | Collected Stories | Harcourt Brace (1965) | Short story collection | Texas |
|---|
| 1967 | | Bernard Malamud
(1914–1986) | The Fixer | Farrar, Straus & Giroux (1966) | Novel | New York |
|---|
| 1968 | | William Styron
(1925–2006) | The Confessions of Nat Turner | Random House (1967) | Novel | Virginia |
|---|
| 1969 | | N. Scott Momaday
(1934–2024) | House Made of Dawn | Harper & Row (1968) | Novel | Oklahoma |
|---|
| 1970 | | Jean Stafford
(1915–1979) | Collected Stories | Farrar, Straus & Giroux (1969) | Short story collection | California |
|---|
| 1971 | Not awarded |
| 1972 | < | -- violation: --> | Wallace Stegner
(1909–1993) | Angle of Repose | Doubleday (1971) | Novel | Iowa |
|---|
| 1973 | | Eudora Welty
(1909–2001) | The Optimist's Daughter | Random House (1972) | Short novel | Mississippi |
|---|
| 1974 | Not awarded |
| 1975 | | Michael Shaara
(1928–1988) | The Killer Angels | David McKay Publications (1974) | Historical fiction | New Jersey |
|---|
| 1976 | | Saul Bellow
(1915–2005) | Humboldt's Gift | Viking Press (1975) | Novel | Illinois
(born in Quebec, Canada) |
|---|
| 1977 | Not awarded |
| 1978 | < | -- violation: --> | James Alan McPherson
(1943–2016) | Elbow Room | Little, Brown (1977) | Short story collection | Georgia |
|---|
| 1979 | | John Cheever
(1912–1982) | The Stories of John Cheever | Alfred A. Knopf (1978) | Short story collection | | |
|---|
1980s to 2020s
Entries from this point on include the finalists listed for each year.
| Year | Winner | Work | Genre(s) | Author's origin | Finalists |
|---|
| 1980 | | Norman Mailer
(1923–2007) | The Executioner's Song | Little, Brown (1979) | True crime novel | New Jersey | |
|---|
| 1981 | < | -- violation: --> | John Kennedy Toole
(1937–1969) | A Confederacy of Dunces
(posthumously) | Louisiana State University Press (1980) | Picaresque novel | Louisiana | |
|---|
| 1982 | | John Updike
(1932–2009) | Rabbit Is Rich | Alfred A. Knopf (1981) | Novel | Pennsylvania | |
|---|
| 1983 | | Alice Walker
(b. 1944) | The Color Purple | Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (1982) | Epistolary novel | Georgia | |
|---|
| 1984 | | William Kennedy
(b. 1928) | Ironweed | Viking Press (1983) | Novel | New York | |
|---|
| 1985 | < | -- violation: --> | Alison Lurie
(1926–2020) | Foreign Affairs | Random House (1984) | Novel | Illinois | |
|---|
| 1986 | | Larry McMurtry
(1936–2021) | Lonesome Dove | Simon & Schuster (1985) | Western novel | Texas | |
|---|
| 1987 | | Peter Taylor
(1917–1994) | A Summons to Memphis | Alfred A. Knopf (1986) | Novel | Tennessee | |
|---|
| 1988 | | Toni Morrison
(1931–2019) | Beloved | Alfred A. Knopf (1987) | Novel | Ohio | |
|---|
| 1989 | | Anne Tyler
(b. 1941) | Breathing Lessons | Alfred A. Knopf (1988) | Novel | Minnesota | |
|---|
| 1990 | | Oscar Hijuelos
(1951–2013) | The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1989) | Novel | New York | |
|---|
| 1991 | | John Updike
(1932–2009) | Rabbit At Rest | Alfred A. Knopf (1990) | Novel | Pennsylvania | |
|---|
| 1992 | | Jane Smiley
(b. 1949) | A Thousand Acres | Alfred A. Knopf (1991) | Domestic realism | California | |
|---|
| 1993 | | Robert Olen Butler
(b. 1945) | A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain | Henry Holt (1992) | Short story collection | Illinois | |
|---|
| 1994 | | E. Annie Proulx
(b. 1935) | The Shipping News | Charles Scribner's Sons (1993) | Novel | Connecticut | |
|---|
| 1995 | < | -- violation: --> | Carol Shields
(1935–2003) | The Stone Diaries | Random House (1993) | Novel | Illinois | |
|---|
| 1996 | | Richard Ford
(b. 1944) | Independence Day | Alfred A. Knopf (1995) | Novel | Mississippi | |
|---|
| 1997 | | Steven Millhauser
(b. 1943) | Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer | Crown Publishers (1996) | Novel | New York | |
|---|
| 1998 | | Philip Roth
(1933–2018) | American Pastoral | Houghton Mifflin (1997) | Novel | New Jersey | |
|---|
| 1999 | | Michael Cunningham
(b. 1952) | The Hours | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1998) | Historical fiction | Ohio | |
|---|
| 2000 | | Jhumpa Lahiri
(b. 1967) | Interpreter of Maladies | Houghton Mifflin (1999) | Short story collection | Rhode Island
(born in London, United Kingdom)
(lives in Rome, Italy) | |
|---|
| 2001 | | Michael Chabon
(b. 1963) | The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay | Random House (2000) | Historical fiction | Washington, D.C. | |
|---|
| 2002 | | Richard Russo
(b. 1949) | Empire Falls | Alfred A. Knopf (2001) | Novel | New York | |
|---|
| 2003 | | Jeffrey Eugenides
(b. 1960) | Middlesex | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2002) | Family saga | Michigan | |
|---|
| 2004 | | Edward P. Jones
(b. 1950) | The Known World | Amistad Press (2003) | Historical fiction | Washington, D.C. | |
|---|
| 2005 | | Marilynne Robinson
(b. 1943) | Gilead | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2004) | Epistolary Novel | Idaho | |
|---|
| 2006 | | Geraldine Brooks
(b. 1955) | March | Viking Press (2005) | Historical fiction | New York
(born in Sydney, Australia) | |
|---|
| 2007 | | Cormac McCarthy
(1933–2023) | The Road | Alfred A. Knopf (2006) | Post-apocalyptic fiction | Rhode Island | |
|---|
| 2008 | | Junot Díaz
(b. 1968) | The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao | Riverhead Books (2007) | Novel | New Jersey
(born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) | |
|---|
| 2009 | | Elizabeth Strout
(b. 1956) | Olive Kitteridge | Random House (2008) | Interrelated short stories | Maine | |
|---|
| 2010 | | Paul Harding
(b. 1967) | Tinkers | Bellevue Literary Press (2009) | Debut novel | Massachusetts | |
|---|
| 2011 | | Jennifer Egan
(b. 1962) | A Visit from the Goon Squad | Alfred A. Knopf (2010) | Interrelated short stories | Illinois | |
|---|
| 2012 | Not awarded[4] | |
| 2013 | | Adam Johnson
(b. 1967) | The Orphan Master's Son | Random House (2012) | Novel | South Dakota | |
|---|
| 2014 | | Donna Tartt
(b. 1963) | The Goldfinch | Little, Brown and Company (2013) | Novel | Mississippi | |
|---|
| 2015 | | Anthony Doerr
(b. 1973) | All the Light We Cannot See | Charles Scribner's Sons (2014) | War novel | Ohio | |
|---|
| 2016 | | Viet Thanh Nguyen
(b. 1971) | The Sympathizer | Grove Press (2015) | Debut novel | California
(born in Buôn Ma Thuột, Vietnam) | |
|---|
| 2017 | | Colson Whitehead
(b. 1969) | The Underground Railroad | Doubleday (2016) | Alternate historical novel | New York | |
|---|
| 2018 | | Andrew Sean Greer
(b. 1970) | Less | Little, Brown and Company (2017) | Satirical novel | Washington, D.C. | |
|---|
| 2019 | | Richard Powers
(b. 1957) | The Overstory | W. W. Norton & Company (2018) | Novel | Illinois | |
|---|
| 2020 | | Colson Whitehead
(b. 1969) | The Nickel Boys | Doubleday (2019) | Novel | New York | |
|---|
| 2021 | | Louise Erdrich
(b. 1954) | The Night Watchman | Harpercollins (2020) | Novel | Minnesota | |
|---|
| 2022 | | Joshua Cohen
(b. 1980) | | New York Review Books (2021) | Novel | New Jersey | |
|---|
| 2023[5] | | Hernan Diaz
(b. 1973) | Trust | Riverhead Books (2022) | Novel | New York
(born in Argentina) | |
|---|
| Barbara Kingsolver
(b. 1955) | Demon Copperhead | Harper (2022) | Novel | Kentucky |
|---|
| 2024 | | Jayne Anne Phillips
(b. 1952) | Night Watch | Knopf (2023) | Novel | West Virginia | |
|---|
|
Repeat winners
Four writers to date have won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction multiple times, one nominally in the novel category and two in the general fiction category. Ernest Hemingway was selected by the 1941 and 1953 juries, but the former was overturned with no award given that year.
Authors with multiple nominations
4 Nominations
- Joyce Carol Oates
- Philip Roth
3 Nominations
2 Nominations
Further reading
- Book: Stuckey . W. J. . The Pulitzer Prize Novels: A Critical Backward Look . 1981 . University of Oklahoma Press . Norman . 978-0806106885.
External links
- Official website for Pulitzer Prize: for the Novel and for Fiction
- Michael's Cunningham's "Letter from the Pulitzer Fiction Jury: What Really Happened This Year," The New Yorker — Part One (July 9, 2012) and Part Two (July 10, 2012)
Notes and References
- Web site: 1917 Pulitzer Prizes. The Pulitzer Prizes (pulitzer.org) . 2018-04-19.
- Web site: Pulitzer Prize for the Novel . The Pulitzer Prizes (pulitzer.org) . 2008-08-19 .
- Book: Fischer . Erika J. . Fischer . Heinz D. . Chronicle of the Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction: Discussions, Decisions and Documents . 2007 . . Munich, Germany . 978-3-598-30191-9 . 3–11 . July 22, 2021.
- Web site: 2012 Pulitzer Prize Winners & Finalists. The Pulitzer Prizes (pulitzer.org) . 24 December 2017.
- Web site: Stewart . Sophia . 2023-05-08 . 'Demon Copperhead,' 'Trust,' 'His Name Is George Floyd' Among 2023 Pulitzer Prize Winners . 2023-05-10 . . en.
