Pulitzer Prize for Drama Winners
5 books
2223 views
Pulitzer Prize for Drama tracks how the American stage argued with itself—family duty, work, love, faith—right in front of an audience. This page gathers early winners you can legally read for free on AliceAndBooks (PDF & ePUB), notes years with no award, and lists later winners we don’t host yet.
Established as part of the Pulitzer Prizes and first awarded in 1918, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama honors a distinguished play by an American author—preferably original in its source and about American life—first produced in the United States during the preceding year. The board has occasionally withheld the award, and several musicals have won it. Use this collection to jump straight to the plays available here, and check back as we add more titles.
1918: Why Marry?
Jesse Lynch Williams
Awarded for its sharp social comedy that questions marriage conventions with wit and topical bite.
1919: Not awarded
The board withheld the prize this year.
1920: Beyond the Horizon
Eugene O’Neill
Awarded for tragic realism and lyrical intensity in a family drama that reshaped American stage writing.
1921: Miss Lulu Bett
Zona Gale
Awarded for a humane, groundbreaking portrait of a woman asserting independence in small-town America.
1922: Anna Christie
Eugene O’Neill
Awarded for powerful characterization and naturalistic dialogue in a wrenching father–daughter reunion.
1923: Icebound
Owen Davis
Awarded for stark New England realism and a moral thaw inside a family locked in winter.
1924: Hell-Bent Fer Heaven
Hatcher Hughes · Not yet available on AliceAndBooks.
Awarded for its tense portrait of religious zeal and mountain feuds.
1925: They Knew What They Wanted
Sidney Howard · Not yet available on AliceAndBooks.
Awarded for a compassionate story of love, deception, and forgiveness among working people.
1926: Craig’s Wife
George Kelly · Not yet available on AliceAndBooks.
Awarded for its incisive critique of materialism and control inside marriage.
1927: In Abraham’s Bosom
Paul Green · Not yet available on AliceAndBooks.
Awarded for an honest depiction of Black ambition and systemic barriers in the rural South.
1928: Strange Interlude
Eugene O’Neill · Not yet available on AliceAndBooks.
Awarded for daring form—spoken asides and psychological scope—across an epic span.
1929: Street Scene
Elmer Rice · Not yet available on AliceAndBooks.
Awarded for a vivid cross-section of New York tenement life and its social tensions.
1930: The Green Pastures
Marc Connelly · Not yet available on AliceAndBooks.
Awarded for an imaginative retelling of biblical stories through African American folk culture.
Later winners
1931: Alison’s House
Susan Glaspell · Not yet available on AliceAndBooks.
Recognized for its elegiac drama inspired by Emily Dickinson’s legacy and family secrets.
1932: Of Thee I Sing
George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind & Ira Gershwin · Not yet available on AliceAndBooks.
Recognized for a razor-sharp political satire of American elections—set to music.
1933: Both Your Houses
Maxwell Anderson · Not yet available on AliceAndBooks.
Recognized for its searing critique of corruption inside Congress.
1934: Men in White
Sidney Kingsley · Not yet available on AliceAndBooks.
Recognized for a gritty hospital drama about training, ethics, and personal cost.
1935: The Old Maid
Zoë Akins · Not yet available on AliceAndBooks.
Recognized for a poignant adaptation about concealed motherhood and sacrifice.
FAQ: Why some winners aren’t here yet?
Why are some winners missing?
We only host works that are in the U.S. public domain. Many Pulitzer-winning plays from the 1930s onward are still under copyright, so we can’t legally share them yet.
When will they enter the public domain?
In the U.S., works published in year N enter the public domain on January 1 of N + 95. That means:
1929 → Jan 1, 2025
1930 → Jan 1, 2026
1931 → Jan 1, 2027
1932 → Jan 1, 2028
1933 → Jan 1, 2029
1934 → Jan 1, 2030
1935 → Jan 1, 2031
