Pulitzer Prize Board Postpones 2021 Awards Announcement to June

The Pulitzer Prize Board has decided to postpone the announcement of the 2021 winners. Originally scheduled for April 19, the prizes in journalism, books, drama and music will now be announced on June 11 at 1PM ET via video stream at Pulitzer.org.

As previously reported, with theaters shut down due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the board is updating eligibility requirements for its 2021 Prize for Drama. For the 2021 award, eligible entries may also include plays that were scheduled to be produced in theaters in 2020 but were postponed or canceled due to the pandemic. In addition, plays produced and performed in places other than theaters, including outside, in site-specific venues or online, will also be eligible.

“Like nearly everyone in America, we at the Pulitzer Board are eager to get off our screens and gather again in person. We are looking forward to the chance this year for the 18 members of the Board to meet safely and give each entry the intense consideration and spirited debate it deserves,” said Board co-chairs Stephen Engelberg, Editor-in-Chief of ProPublica and Aminda Marqués González, Vice President and Executive Editor at Simon & Schuster's adult trade publishing imprint.

The annual awards luncheon, traditionally held at Columbia University in May, will also be postponed. Details of a fall celebratory reception for winners will be announced at a later date.

The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is presented to a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life. The 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama was awarded to Michael R. Jackson's A Strange Loop.