The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918. Unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes, the eligibility period for the drama prize runs from March 2 to March 1, rather than being the calendar year. The drama jury, which consists of one academic and four critics attend plays in New York and in regional theaters. The award goes to the playwright, although production of the play is also taken into account.

• 1918: Jesse Lynch Williams, Why Marry?
• 1919: no award given
• 1920: Eugene O'Neill, Beyond the Horizon
• 1921: Zona Gale, Miss Lulu Bett
• 1922: Eugene O'Neill, Anna Christie
• 1923: Owen Davis , Icebound
• 1924: Hatcher Hughes , Hell-Bent Fer Heaven
• 1925: Sidney Howard, They Knew What They Wanted
• 1926: George Kelly, Craig's Wife
• 1927: Paul Green , In Abraham's Bosom
• 1928: Eugene O'Neill, Strange Interlude
• 1929: Elmer Rice, Street Scene
• 1930: Marc Connelly, The Green Pastures
• 1931: Susan Glaspell, Alison's House
• 1932: George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind , Ira Gershwin, Of Thee I Sing
• 1933: Maxwell Anderson, Both Your Houses
• 1934: Sidney Kingsley , Men in White
• 1935: Zoe Akins , The Old Maid
• 1936: Robert E. Sherwood, Idiots Delight
• 1937: Moss Hart, George S. Kaufman, You Can't Take It With You
• 1938: Thornton Wilder, Our Town
• 1939: Robert E. Sherwood, Abe Lincoln in Illinois
• 1940: William Saroyan, The Time of Your Life
• 1941: Robert E. Sherwood, There Shall Be No Night
• 1942: no award given
• 1943: Thornton Wilder, The Skin of Our Teeth
• 1944: no award given
• 1945: Mary Chase , Harvey
• 1946: Russel Crouse, Howard Lindsay, State of the Union
• 1947: no award given
• 1948: Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire
• 1949: Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman
• 1950: Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Joshua Logan, South Pacific
• 1951: no award given
• 1952: Joseph Kramm , The Shrike
• 1953: William Inge, Picnic
• 1954: John Patrick, The Teahouse of the August Moon
• 1955: Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
• 1956: Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, Diary of Anne Frank
• 1957: Eugene O'Neill, Long Day's Journey Into Night
• 1958: Ketti Frings , Look Homeward, Angel
• 1959: Archibald MacLeish, J. B.
• 1960: Jerome Weidman , George Abbott for book Jerry Bock for music, and Sheldon Harnick for lyrics, Fiorello!
• 1961: Tad Mosel , All The Way Home
• 1962: Frank Loesser, Abe Burrows , How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying
• 1963: no award given
• 1964: no award given
• 1965: Frank D. Gilroy , The Subject Was Roses
• 1966: no award given
• 1967: Edward Albee, A Delicate Balance
• 1968: no award given
• 1969: Howard Sackler , The Great White Hope
• 1970: Charles Gordone , No Place To Be Somebody
• 1971: Paul Zindel, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds
• 1972: no award given
• 1973: Jason Miller, That Championship Season
• 1974: no award given
• 1975: Edward Albee, Seascape
• 1976: Michael Bennett for concept, choreography, and direction; James Kirkwood for book, Marvin Hamlisch for lyrics, Nicholas Dante for music, A Chorus Line
• 1977: Michael Cristofer , The Shadow Box
• 1978: Donald L. Coburn , The Gin Game
• 1979: Sam Shepard, Buried Child
• 1980: Lanford Wilson, Talley's Folly
• 1981: Beth Henley, Crimes of the Heart
• 1982: Charles Fuller , A Soldier's Play
• 1983: Marsha Norman, 'Night, Mother
• 1984: David Mamet, Glengarry Glen Ross
• 1985: James Lapine for book; Stephen Sondheim for music and lyrics, Sunday in the Park with George
• 1986: no award given
• 1987: August Wilson, Fences
• 1988: Alfred Uhry , Driving Miss Daisy
• 1989: Wendy Wasserstein, The Heidi Chronicles
• 1990: August Wilson, The Piano Lesson
• 1991: Neil Simon, Lost in Yonkers
• 1992: Robert Schenkkan, The Kentucky Cycle
• 1993: Tony Kushner, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches
• 1994: Edward Albee, Three Tall Women
• 1995: Horton Foote, The Young Man From Atlanta
• 1996: Jonathan Larson, Rent
• 1997: no award given
• 1998: Paula Vogel, How I Learned To Drive
• 1999: Margaret Edson , Wit
• 2000: Donald Margulies, Dinner With Friends
• 2001: David Auburn, Proof
• 2002: Suzan-Lori Parks, Topdog/Underdog
• 2003: Nilo Cruz, Anna in the Tropics
• 2004: Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife