This afternoon, Monday, May 5, at 3 pm, the 2025 Pulitzer Prizes (awarded on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board, which meets twice annually) were announced by administrator Marjorie Miller via livestream at NYC’s Columbia University in 23 categories, recognizing journalism, books, drama, and music. Named for Hungarian-born American newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer (the first to call for the training of journalists at the university level), the establishment of the Pulitzer Prizes as an incentive to excellence was specified in the writing of his will in 1904, which also bestowed an endowment on Columbia for the creation of a School of Journalism, where the prizes were first presented in 1917.
For the Drama Prize, awarded to “a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life,” a jury, composed of critics, academics, and playwrights, reviews scripts submitted by dozens of New York and regional productions following an early January deadline, from which three finalists are chosen. Although the award is conferred on the playwright(s) of the winning work, the production of the play is also considered. Eligible works for this year opened in the US between January 1-December 31, 2024.
Finalists for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Drama are Oh, Mary! by Cole Escola, Purpose by Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins, and The Ally by Itamar Moses. The Prize was awarded to Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins for Purpose.
Congratulations to the finalists and winner of this most prestigious recognition!
Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has also won the 2025 Harold and Mimi Steinberg American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award for Purpose, presented on Friday, May 2, as part of the Pacific Playwrights Festival in Costa Mesa, CA. The Steinberg ATCA Award, which carries a $25,000 cash prize, recognizes an outstanding script that premiered in a professional production outside of NYC in 2024. Following its regional debut last year at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Purpose is currently playing an open-ended engagement on Broadway at the Hayes Theater; the production has received six 2025 Tony Award nominations, including Best Play.
