Pulitzer Prize Nomination in 1966 (1 Viewer)

[Petey]

I read in an interview from Carl Weissner that Bukowski was nominated for
the Pulitzer Price in 1966 for his poetry.
Never heard that fact before there is also no mark in the timeline.
Any further information ?

 

[mjp]

He got an NEA grant once, and applied for the Guggenheim twice (turned down both times). https://bukowskiforum.com/showthread.php?t=71

He was never nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Though I have a vague memory of the possibility being discussed in a letter or letters...someone suggesting that they knew someone who knew someone...

 

[Petey]

I found a letter dated 25th June 1966 to Douglas Blazek where Bukowski mentioned that
Jon Webb informed him that he was nominated for the Pulitzer Price and that they need now a picture and biographic details from his side...
I also ckecked the official Pulitzer Price homepage but their records ends in 1980 so there is no way to ckeck this out.

 

[cirerita]

He was indeed nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and it finally went to A. Sexton.

 

[Petey]

Aha very interesting so it was not another Weissner promo fake.

http://www.pulitzer.org/cgi-bin/catquery.cgi?type=w&category=Poetry&FormsButton5=Retrieve

As mentioned before there are no records of the nominated artists available before 1980 just from the winners.

@cirerita what is your source ?

 

[mjp]

Bear in mind there is a (big) difference between being entered and being nominated. A publisher can fill out the paperwork, pay a fee and enter any author. But only a few of those entrants are nominated as finalists and actually considered for the prize. I believe if you read closely you might find that Bukowski was entered, but not nominated.

I don't say that based on any facts or specific knowledge that I have, but I think if it had been a nomination, it would have been prominently mentioned in every Black Sparrow bio, and in every magazine piece written on Bukowski from that time forward he would have been referred to as "Pulitzer Prize nominee Charles Bukowski." Both because it's a big deal to be nominated, and because Bukowski is not exactly traditional Pulitzer Prize material.

But there is no mention of it anywhere. If he was nominated, the virtual silence around the nomination seems very weird to me.

 

[cirerita]

You might be right. I had completely forgotten about the following reply from the PP staff last year:

I checked the report of the Nominating Jury for Poetry in 1967 and Bukowski's book was not mentioned. Before 1980 (when our office began announcing the names of "nominated finalists") all books that were entered in the competition were often called "nominees." It is possible that Bukowski's book was entered in the competition. We do not provide information on entries

 

[HenryChinaski]

i had no idea he was nominated for the Pulitzer

 

[mjp]

It doesn't look like he was.