Sinclair Lewis refused to accept the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for his novel, Arrowsmith, because he believed the Pulitzer should be awarded for works that "celebrate American wholesomeness," while Lewis' books were negative and critical. He resisted the idea of being constrained by a form of social contract that might seek to dilute his work.
Lewis wrote to the Pulitzer Prize Board: "Every compulsion is put upon writers to become safe, polite, obedient, and sterile. In protest, I declined election to the National Institute of Arts and Letters some years ago, and now I must decline the Pulitzer Prize."
Ironically, the protagonist of the book, Dr. Martin Arrowsmith, also struggled with the conflict between idealism and commercialism. After declining the Pulitzer Prize, Lewis asked his agent to try to "pull strings" for a Nobel Prize in Literature, which he subsequently won in 1930 for "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters."
The author who refused the Pulitzer Prize in 1926 for the novel "Arrowsmith" was Sinclair Lewis. He declined the award to protest the commercialization of literary prizes.
Sinclair Lewis
Sinclair Lewis won the Pulitzer Prize for the novel "Arrowsmith" in 1926. Lewis declined the prize due to his dissatisfaction with the judging process.
Writer and philosopher Carl Sandburg declined a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Abraham Lincoln in 1940 because he did not want to accept the prize unless it was awarded through the usual process.
John Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath, won a Pulitzer Prize for best Novel in 1940.
Edith Wharton won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel "The Age of Innocence" in 1921.
Toni Morrison won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for her novel, Beloved.
Martin Flavin won the 1944 Pulitzer Prize for his novel, Journey in the Dark. The Pulitzer Prize Board changed the category from "Novel" to "Fiction" in 1948.
Cormac McCarthy won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for his novel, The Road.
Toni Morrison won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for her novel, Beloved.
"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2007.
John Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath, won a Pulitzer Prize for best Novel in 1940.
Herman Wouk won the 1952 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for his novel, The Caine Mutiny.(Doubleday)
Toni Morrison wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved, which was published in 1987.