The 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Drama goes to ‘English’ by Sanaz Toossi

The Pulitzer Prizes and Fellowships – established at NYC’s Columbia University in 1917, under the 1904 will of the Hungarian-born newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer as an incentive to excellence – are awarded by the University on the recommendation of The Pulitzer Prize Board, which meets twice annually. There are 23 categories recognizing journalism, books, drama, and music.

Photo courtesy of the Pulitzer Prize.

The Pulitzer Prize in Drama is presented “for a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life.” This year’s eligible works include full-length dramas that opened in the United States between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022.

As announced by Administrator Marjorie Miller via livestream at 3 pm today, finalists for the 2023 award are On Sugarland by Aleshea Harris and The Far Country by Lloyd Suh. And the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Drama has been awarded to English by Sanaz Toossi, described by the Board as a quietly powerful play about four Iranian adults preparing for an English language exam in a storefront school near Tehran, where family separations and travel restrictions drive them to learn a new language that may alter their identities and also represent a new life.

Congratulations to the finalists and winner of this most prestigious recognition!

SEE ALSO:
The cost of not being lost in translation, in ‘English’ at Studio Theatre (review by Jakob Cansler of the DC production, January 16. 2023)

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