The 2021 Drama and Music competitions currently are accepting submissions, and will close at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on December 31.
All entry materials must be uploaded to the Books, Drama and Music entry site (please note the URL of bdmentrysite.pulitzer.org), where the required entry form and $75 handling fee must also be remitted.
COVID-related Drama changes
As always, eligible works include full-length dramas by American authors that opened in the United States between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020. For the 2021 award, eligible entries also may include plays that were scheduled to be produced in theatres in calendar 2020 but were postponed or cancelled due to the pandemic, as well as plays produced and performed in places other than theaters, including online, outside or in site-specific venues, during the year.
Scheduled plays that went unproduced should include with the entry some confirmation (such as a screenshot or a PDF document) of their cancellation or postponement along with the playscript. For full-length dramatic works produced and performed in spaces other than theaters during calendar 2020, a script and production details will still be required.
For more information, please see the Drama entry guidelines.
Digital upload requirements
Playscripts and scores (if available) must be uploaded in PDF form. Web links (i.e. Vimeo or YouTube) are preferred for the recommended Drama performance video, while externally hosted zip or rar links or direct mp3/wav/flac uploads are preferred for Music recordings. Spotify and YouTube links are not accepted by the Music Secretary.
Digital videos/recordings must remain active and accessible through the Prize announcement in April 2020. Please include any credentials in the description field of the uploader. Any updates may be sent to to [email protected].
New questionnaire
Since the 2020 competition, the entry form has contained 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 (including allegations of fabrication and plagiarism).
Music guidance
Alongside art composition in the Western tradition 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. In recent years, hip-hop (Kendrick Lamar), jazz-based (Anthony Davis, Henry Threadgill) and downtown-oriented artists (Julia Wolfe, Ted Hearne) have been awarded the Prize and recognized as finalists.
Artists working in genres with codified repertoires (such as gospel and traditional pop) should be mindful that submissions must meet our current creative activity requirement; new interpretations of standards are ineligible.
Logistics
General submission guidelines for the Drama Prize may be read here.
Guidelines for the Music Prize are here.
Should you have any additional questions, please contact us at (212) 854-3841 or [email protected]. We are open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays. As our office will be closed the week of December 28, please endeavor to complete your entry well in advance of the deadline.
Best of luck!