All of you literary addicts out there, probably already know this, but the winners of the 2012 Pulitzer Prizes were awarded this week. Of course, if you know that, then you also know that no awards were handed out for Fiction or Editorial Writing.
Well, if that’s not a slap in the face, I don’t know what is. I get it, this whole participation trophy ”everyone’s a winner,” thing has gotten out of hand, but if nobody’s a winner, then nobody’s a loser, and no tough life lessons are learned.
The organization’s explanation is that a majority vote is required to award a work, and they just couldn’t agree on one.
See writers of fiction and opinion, it’s a perfectly ridiculous and juvenile reason, don’t you feel better now?
Did the Pulitzer Prize Board learn nothing from the Oscars? We don’t accept that the “rules” inhibited your ability to pick a tenth movie, or in this case an actual winner.
Whatever happened to ties? There has to be a better way to deal with these processes that somehow mathematically allow for legitimate indecision.
If these wise governing bodies of awards for the humanities can’t figure it out, I have suggestions:
- Rock, paper, scissors
- Flip a coin
- Draw straws
- Arm and/or thumb wrestle
- Tug of war
- Put all the names in a hat
…and I have plenty more.
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“Publishing Is Cranky Over Snubs by Pulitzer’s”: New York Times
…bi-daily smile…
