NEW YORK — The Pulitzer Prize Board has revised its long-standing rules on who qualifies for many of its arts and letters prizes and will now allow those not born in the United States and other noncitizens to compete.
The board announced Tuesday that permanent residents and those who have long made the United States their primary home will qualify in the books, theater and music categories. The changes will take effect for the 2025 awards cycle, which begins next spring.
“The Board is excited to ensure that the awards are inclusive and accessible to those who produce distinguished work in books, theater and music,” board co-chairs Tommie Shelby and Neil Brown said in a statement. “This expansion is an appropriate update to our rules and compatible with the objectives Joseph Pulitzer had in establishing these prizes.”
Last August, hundreds of writers endorsed an open letter asking that the Pulitzer board allow non-U.S. citizens to compete. Signers included Sandra Cisneros, Brit Bennett, Dave Eggers and Pulitzer winners Andrew Sean Greer and Diane Seuss.
Joseph Pulitzer founded the prizes in 1917 with the mission of honoring “American” journalism and literature. The journalism award judges already accept nominees of other nationalities, as long as the work has been published in the United States, a requirement that also applies to the art categories.
In reality, the new rules tighten eligibility for the history prize, which previously could be written by authors of any nationality as long as they dealt with the United States. “For the sake of consistency,” the board decided, the story will now follow the same guidelines as those. for books, dramas and music.
2023-09-13 15:43:45
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