Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

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, it was one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were awarded that year.[1] (No Novel prize was awarded, so it was inaugurated in 1918, in a sense.)[2]

Finalists have been announced from 1980, ordinarily two others beside the winner.[2]

Winners

In 31 years under the "Novel" name, the prize was awarded 27 times; in its first 66 years to 2013 under the "Fiction" name, 59 times. No award has been given 11 times, including its first year 1917, and it has never been split.[2] Three writers have won two prizes each in the Fiction category: Booth Tarkington, William Faulkner, and John Updike.

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

Entries from this point on include the finalists listed after the winner for each year.

1990s

2000s

2010s

Repeat winners

Three 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 and no 1941 award was given.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "1917 Winners". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
  2. 1 2 3 "Pulitzer Prize for the Novel". The Pulitzer Prizes (pulitzer.org). Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  3. ↑ Among the titles the fiction jury considered this year was Joseph Hergesheimer's Java Head. However, one juror strongly objected to the novel, arguing that it was not "wholesome" enough for Pulitzer distinction. Fischer, Heinz Dietrich, and Erika J. Fischer. Chronicle of the Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction: Discussions, Decisions and Documents.. Munich, K. G. Saur, 2007. 4.
  4. 1 2 The fiction jury had recommended the 1941 award go to Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. Although the Pulitzer Board initially agreed with that judgment, the president of Columbia University, Nicholas Murray Butler, persuaded the board to reverse its judgment because he deemed the novel offensive, and no award was given that year. McDowell, Edwin. "Publishing: Pulitzer Controversies." New York Times 11 May 1984: C26.
  5. ↑ The fiction jury had recommended the 1957 award to Elizabeth Spencer's The Voice at the Back Door, but the Pulitzer board, which has sole discretion for awarding the prize, made no award. Source: McDowell, Edwin. "Publishing: Pulitzer Controversies". The New York Times, 11 May 1984: C26.
  6. ↑ The three novels the Pulitzer committee put forth for consideration to the Pulitzer board were: Losing Battles by Eudora Welty; Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow; and The Wheel of Love by Joyce Carol Oates. The board rejected all three and opted for no award. Source: Fischer, Heinz-Dietrich. The Pulitzer Prize Archive, Volume 10, "Novel/Fiction Awards 1917-1994". Munich: K.G. Saur, 1994. LX-LXI.
  7. ↑ The fiction jury had unanimously recommended the 1974 award to Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, but the Pulitzer board, which has sole discretion for awarding the prize, made no award. Source: McDowell, Edwin. "Publishing: Pulitzer Controversies". The New York Times, 11 May 1984: C26.
  8. ↑ The fiction jury had recommended the 1977 award to Norman MacLean's A River Runs Through It, but the Pulitzer board, which has sole discretion for awarding the prize, made no award. That same year, however, Alex Haley's iconic family saga Roots was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize. Source: McDowell, Edwin. "Publishing: Pulitzer Controversies". The New York Times, 11 May 1984: C26.
  9. ↑ "The 2012 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Fiction," The Pulitzer Prizes official website. Accessed Dec. 8, 2015.
  10. ↑ http://www.pulitzer.org/winners/viet-thanh-nguyen
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