George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism
The George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism is administered by the Cornell University Department of English and presented "to the American who has written the best piece of drama criticism during the theatrical year, whether it is an article, an essay, treatise or book." The prize was established by the prominent drama critic, George Jean Nathan, who instructed in his will that the net income of half of his estate be awarded to the recipient of the award. Today, the award amounts to about $10,000. Winners are selected annually by a committee composed of the heads of the English departments at Cornell University, Princeton University, and Yale University. Drama specialists from each university now also contribute to the selection process. The first prize was awarded following the 1958–1959 theatrical year.
Recipients
Recipients of the George Jean Nathan Award are as follows:- 1958–1958: Harold Clurman
- 1959–1960: C.L. Barber
- 1960–1961: Jerry Tallmer
- 1961–1962: Robert Brustein
- 1962–1963: Walter Kerr
- 1963–1964: Elliot Norton
- 1964–1965: Gerald Weales
- 1965–1966: Eric Russell Bentley
- 1966–1967: Elizabeth Hardwick
- 1967–1968: Martin Gottfried
- 1968–1969: John Lahr
- 1969–1970: John Simon
- 1970–1971: Richard Gilman
- 1971–1972: Jay Carr
- 1972–1973: Stanley Kauffmann
- 1973–1974: Albert Bermel
- 1974–1975: No Award Given
- 1975–1976: Michael Goldman
- 1976–1977: Bernard Knox
- 1977–1978: Mel Gussow
- 1978–1979: Jack Kroll
- 1979–1980: Sean Mitchell
- 1980–1981: Carolyn Clay and Sylviane Gold
- 1981–1982: Julius Novick
- 1982–1983: Herbert Blau
- 1983–1984: Bonnie Marranca
- 1984–1985: Jan Kott
- 1985–1986: Gordon Rogoff
- 1986–1987: Robert Brustein
- 1987–1988: Scott Rosenberg
- 1988–1989: Eileen Blumenthal
- 1989–1990: Steven Mikulan
- 1990–1991: Jonathan Kalb
- 1991–1992: Kevin Kelly
- 1992–1993: David Cole
- 1993–1994: Marvin Carlson and John Lahr
- 1994–1995: Robert Hurwitt
- 1995–1996: Michael Feingold
- 1996–1997: Ben Brantley, Elinor Fuchs, and Todd London
- 1997–1998: Alisa Solomon
- 1998–1999: Michael Goldman
- 1999–2000: Albert Williams
- 2000–2001: Laurence Senelick
- 2001–2002: Daniel Mendelsohn
- 2002–2003: Hilton Als
- 2003–2004: Trey Graham
- 2004–2005: Raymond Knapp
- 2005–2006: Charles Isherwood
- 2006–2007: H. Scott McMillin
- 2007–2008: Randy Gener
- 2008–2009: Marc Robinson
- 2009–2010: Charles McNulty
- 2010–2011: Jill Dolan
- 2011–2012: Kenneth Gross and Jonathan Kalb
- 2012–2013: Scott Brown
- 2013–2014: Michael Feingold
- 2014–2015: Brian Eugenio Herrera and Chris Jones
- 2015–2016: Shonni Enelow
- 2016–2017: Sara Holdren
- 2017–2018: John H. Muse and Helen Shaw
- 2018–2019: Soraya Nadia McDonald
- 2019–2020: Alexis Soloski
- 2020–2021: Maya Phillips
- 2021–2022: Vinson Cunningham
- 2022–2023: Rhoda Feng