Prize Fighters

Every once in a while, a prestigious literary award sparks controversy. The jury is seen to have flouted the rules, ignored the spirit of the prize, and made its decision based on personal sympathies rather than merit. Something that’s maybe a bit mass-market triumphs over something more cultivated. The result is outrage for some, despair for others. Precedent has been broken, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Surely, there is something rotten in all of this.

I’m talking, of course, about the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, awarded to “the original play, performed in New York during the year, which shall best represent the educational value and power of the stage in raising the standard of good morals, good taste and good manners.”

While the honour, with its $1,000 cheque, was in its fifth year in 1921, this was not to be its fifth winner. No award was given in the inaugural year, 1917, nor was there a winner in 1919. Throughout their springtime...