A historic change in the Pulitzer Prizes

Charso Press: According to a press release issued by the organizers of this prestigious prize in the fields of books, theater and music, the Pulitzer, which was previously open only to citizens of the United States, is now open to permanent residents of the United States and those who consider this country their original and longtime home. can be received

The new criteria will begin with the 2025 awards cycle, and the book, play, and music categories will continue to require works to be in English and published in the United States.

Professor Tommy Shelby and Neil Brown, co-chairs of the Pulitzer Board of Directors, said in a statement: “The Board is keen to ensure that the prizes are available to those who produce outstanding work in books, plays and music. This expansion of eligibility rules is relevant to the appropriate updating of the rules and is consistent with Joseph Pulitzer’s goals in creating these awards.”

The decision is partly influenced by an open letter to the Pulitzer board in August, which called for the awards to consider works by immigrants and undocumented writers.

The letter, which was first published on the “LitHub” website, said: “We believe that it is necessary to go beyond the government’s definitions of what it means to be an American. “Whether non-documentary writers write about the border or not, their voices are fundamentally part of what it means to belong and try to belong to this nation.”

Ingrid Rojas Contreras, this year’s Pulitzer finalist for her memoir The Man Who Could Move Clouds, said: “The change in the Pulitzer’s citizenship requirements matters on many levels, both for the authors whose work is now eligible for this prestigious prize considered, both for lovers of literature and for the future of American literature. Immigration literature is American literature. I am very grateful to the Pulitzer Board for making this happy change.”

El Salvadoran poet Javier Zamora, another signatory to the open letter to the Pulitzer Prize board, also helped draw attention to the issue with an article in the Los Angeles Times in July. As an illegal immigrant, his memoir Solito was ineligible for the Pulitzer Prize. “Zamora” wrote about this: “After 19 years in this country and with all my efforts to reach it, I was still not enough to be considered next to someone who has this privilege and was born in America. In other words, like a human being.

Now, after the law was changed, this poet said: “I am very happy that the Pulitzer committee could finally imagine that one of its winners is a non-citizen or non-American.” This decision is significant because it tells future writers that there is nothing stopping them from believing they can be part of the law. A reality that I did not have, but a reality that generations will enjoy and spread literature to great realms.

The change in eligibility requirements marks a significant change for the Pulitzer Prizes, which were established in 1917 by Hungarian immigrant journalist Joseph Pulitzer for distinctively American works.

The journalism category of the Pulitzer Prizes has long been open to journalists of any nationality, provided the work was originally published by media outlets based in the United States. But with the exception of the history award, the literary, drama and music awards only considered US citizens eligible.

The Pulitzer Prizes follow other literary organizations in expanding eligibility requirements. Previously, the Academy of American Poets and the Poetry Foundation have opened their awards to immigrants with temporary legal status, while the Penn/Faulkner Literary Award has made those who are not US citizens eligible.