I am not the only one who is perplexed by the lack of an award for the Pulitzer prize in fiction. The three finalists rose from a field of three hundred. The volunteers put in countless hours to come up with the three best of the class. They get no thanks except from those in the know. They do it for love of books and the honor the prize bestows on the finalists. I have no doubt the panel took its job very seriously and worked extremely hard.
Been there, done that. I've been a judge in several genre contests, and it takes over your life. Your own work suffers because you don't want any of the voices from these contest books bleeding into your own work. You agonize and reread as many of the books as you feel need it. Lists dominate your desk, as you enumerate good points and bad for every entrant. It's work, and hard work at that. If the final judges in the contests in which I was involved hadn't picked a winner, I would have been royally, and loudly, upset.
I hope everyone buys the books that finaled for the Pulitzer fiction prize, and that they discuss which they liked best. Vote with your pocketbook. Don't let the Pulitzer committee get away with being so. . .namby pamby.(Is that still a word, or words?)
I hope next year the judges do the job they were chosen to do. The first round judges did. I applaud them and wish them the best.
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