Reminder: 2024 Drama and Music Deadlines

The eligibility deadline for the 2024 Pulitzer Prizes in Drama and Music is December 31, 2023. Due to the holiday break, we will accept submissions in both categories until January 5, 2024. All entry materials must be uploaded to the Books, Drama and Music entry site, where the required entry form and $75 handling fee must also be remitted.

Eligibility in Drama is restricted to full-length works by American authors whose productions opened in the United States between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023. Please note that COVID-related expanded eligibility criteria (encompassing plays that were scheduled to be produced in theaters but postponed or canceled due to the pandemic) are no longer in place.

Works by American composers that received their U.S. premiere between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023 are eligible. Although a public performance or the public release of a recording can constitute a premiere, as in Drama, it may be submitted only once.

Alongside contemporary composition and jazz, the Pulitzer Board welcomes submissions from the full spectrum of American music, including hip-hop, R&B, pop, rock, blues, folk, country, Latin and electronic forms.

Required playscripts for Drama and scores for Music (if available) must be uploaded in PDF form. Streaming links (i.e. Vimeo or YouTube) are preferred for the recommended Drama performance video, while direct mp3/wav/flac uploads or externally hosted zip/rar directories are preferred for Music recordings. 

Although links to YouTube and other streaming platforms are permitted in the Music category, please note that downloadable files may be requested at our discretion during the judging process.

Streaming videos and recordings must remain active and accessible through the Prize announcement in May 2024. Please include any login credentials in the description field of the uploader. Any updates may be sent to pulitzer@pulitzer.org.

The entry form also contains a questionnaire modeled after the Journalism contest. The prompts are:

Please provide a brief summary of this work (60 word limit);

Please briefly describe the origins of and inspiration for this work (250 word limit);

Please note any challenges to the originality (or accuracy, if applicable) of this work (250 word limit).

These prompts are intended to provide a contextual framework for submissions to the judges. The third prompt applies strictly to formal and/or legal challenges to the work, such as allegations of fabrication or plagiarism.

General submission guidelines for the Drama Prize may be read here.

Guidelines for the Music Prize are here.

Eligibility inquiries may be directed to pulitzer@pulitzer.org. The Pulitzer Office will close at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time on December 22, reopening the morning of January 2.