The Pulitzer Prizes were first awarded in 1917 for journalism, biography, and history. Prizes for drama and fiction were added in 1918. In 1918 the Poetry Society of America, founded in 1910, gave its first award.

Poetry Society of America Prize: Love Songs, by Sara Teasdale

Pulitzer Prize for fiction: His Family, by Ernest Poole

Pulitzer Prize for drama: Why Marry?, by Jesse Lynch Williams