Listen Live
Donate
 on air
Schedule

KCRW

Read & Explore

  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Food
  • Culture
  • Events

Listen

  • Live Radio
  • Music
  • Podcasts
  • Full Schedule

Information

  • About
  • Careers
  • Help / FAQ
  • Newsletters
  • Contact

Support

  • Become a Member
  • Become a VIP
  • Ways to Give
  • Shop
  • Member Perks

Become a Member

Donate to KCRW to support this cultural hub for music discovery, in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free events. You'll become a KCRW Member and get a year of exclusive benefits.

DonateGive Monthly

Copyright 2026 KCRW. All rights reserved.

Report a Bug|Privacy Policy|Terms of Service|
Cookie Policy
|FCC Public Files

Back to To the Point

To the Point

Pulitzer Board Snubs Fiction

Nothing sells fiction like the Pulitzer Prize, but this year — for the first time since 1977 — no fiction prize was awarded . Every year a jury of over-worked readers struggles through hundreds of novels to come up with three books to recommend to the Pulitzer board.

  • rss
  • Share
By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

Nothing sells fiction like the Pulitzer Prize, but this year — for the first time since 1977 — no fiction prize was awarded. Every year a jury of over-worked readers struggles through hundreds of novels to come up with three books to recommend to the Pulitzer board. This year, they chose Swamplandia by Karen Russell, Train Dreams by Denis Johnson and The Pale King by the late David Foster Wallace. The board turned them all down. Maureen Corrigan, Critic in Residence at Georgetown University and a columnist and book critic for NPR's Fresh Air, was a member of the Pulitzer jury.

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Warren Olney

    former KCRW broadcaster

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Caitlin Shamberg

    KCRW

  • KCRW placeholder

    Christian Bordal

    Managing Producer, Greater LA

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Gideon Brower

    Independent Producer

  • KCRW placeholder

    Maureen Corrigan

    Georgetown University

    NewsNationalPolitics
Back to To the Point