# Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical

The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in theatre across collective Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. It was first presented at the 1969 ceremony, under the shorter name Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book, changing to its current name as of the 1988 ceremony.
For two years, in addition to the award for Outstanding Book, an award was presented to the writers of the Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Book. In 1972, that award went to Melvin Van Peebles for Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death, while the 1973 award went to Ron House and Diz White for El Grande de Coco-Cola.

## Winners and nominees
### 1960s

| Year | Writer | Production |
| 1969 |
| 1969 | Peter Stone | 1776 |

### 1970s

| Year | Writer | Production |
| 1970 |
| 1970 | George Furth | Company |
| 1971 |
| 1971 | Burt Shevelove | No, No, Nanette |
| 1972 |
| 1972 | John Guare and Mel Shapiro | Two Gentlemen of Verona |
| 1973 |
| 1973 | Hugh Wheeler | A Little Night Music |
| 1974 |
| 1974 | Hugh Wheeler | Candide |
| 1975 | — | — |
| 1976 |
| 1976 | James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante | A Chorus Line |
| 1976 | Alfred Uhry | The Robber Bridegroom |
| 1976 | John Weidman | Pacific Overtures |
| 1977 |
| 1977 | Thomas Meehan | Annie |
| 1978 | — | — |
| 1979 |
| 1979 | Hugh Wheeler | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street |

### 1980s

| Year | Writer | Production |
| 1980–1983 | — | — |
| 1984 |
| 1984 | James Lapine | Sunday in the Park with George |
| 1984 | Harvey Fierstein | La Cage aux Folles |
| 1984 | Garry Trudeau | Doonesbury |
| 1985 |
| 1985 | Jerry Colker | Three Guys Naked from the Waist Down |
| 1986 |
| 1986 | Rupert Holmes | The Mystery of Edwin Drood |
| 1986 | Marta Kauffman, Seth Friedman and David Crane | Personals |
| 1986 | Warren Leight | Mayor |
| 1987 |
| 1987 | L. Arthur Rose, Douglas Furber, Stephen Fry and Mike Ockrent | Me and My Girl |
| 1987 | Barry Harman | Olympus on My Mind |
| 1988 |
| 1988 | James Lapine | Into the Woods |
| 1989 | — | — |

### 1990s

| Year | Writer | Production |
| 1990 |
| 1990 | Larry Gelbart | City of Angels |
| 1991 |
| 1991 | Marsha Norman | The Secret Garden |
| 1991 | John Weidman | Assassins |
| 1992 |
| 1992 | George C. Wolfe | Jelly's Last Jam |
| 1993 | — | — |
| 1994 |
| 1994 | James Lapine | Passion |
| 1994 | Michael John LaChiusa | Hello Again |
| 1995 | — | — |
| 1996 |
| 1996 | Jonathan Larson | Rent |
| 1996 | Graciela Daniele and Jim Lewis | Chronicle of a Death Foretold |
| 1996 | Laurence Klavan | Bed and Sofa |
| 1996 | Tina Landau | Floyd Collins |
| 1996 | John Weidman | Big: the musical |
| 1997 | — | — |
| 1998 |
| 1998 | Terrence McNally | Ragtime |
| 1999 |
| 1999 | Alfred Uhry | Parade |
| 1999 | William Finn and James Lapine | A New Brain |

### 2000s

| Year | Writer | Production |
| 2000 | — | — |
| 2001 |
| 2001 | Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan | The Producers |
| 2001 | Kirsten Childs | The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin |
| 2001 | Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming | Bat Boy: The Musical |
| 2001 | Greg Kotis | Urinetown |
| 2001 | Terrence McNally | The Full Monty |
| 2002 |
| 2002 | John Lahr and Elaine Stritch | Elaine Stritch at Liberty |
| 2002 | John Guare | Sweet Smell of Success |
| 2002 | Jonathan Larson and David Auburn | Tick, Tick... BOOM! |
| 2002 | Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan | Thoroughly Modern Millie |
| 2003 |
| 2003 | Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan | Hairspray |
| 2003 | Tim Acito and Alexander Dinelaris | Zanna, Don't! |
| 2003 | Terrence McNally | A Man of No Importance |
| 2003 | Jeremy Sams and Didier Van Cauwelaert | Amour |
| 2003 | Jeff Whitty | Avenue Q |
| 2004 |
| 2004 | Winnie Holzman | Wicked |
| 2004 | Tony Kushner | Caroline, or Change |
| 2005 |
| 2005 | Rachel Sheinkin | The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee |
| 2005 | Nell Benjamin and Laurence O'Keefe | Cam Jansen |
| 2005 | Kevin Del Aguila | Altar Boyz |
| 2005 | Mark Harelik | The Immigrant |
| 2005 | Eric Idle | Monty Python's Spamalot |
| 2005 | Jeffrey Lane | Dirty Rotten Scoundrels |
| 2006 |
| 2006 | Bob Martin and Don McKellar | The Drowsy Chaperone |
| 2006 | Rick Elice and Marshall Brickman | Jersey Boys |
| 2006 | Doug Wright | Grey Gardens |
| 2007 |
| 2007 | Rupert Holmes and Peter Stone | Curtains |
| 2007 | Scott Brown and Anthony King | Gutenberg! The Musical! |
| 2007 | Julian Fellowes | Mary Poppins |
| 2007 | Heather Hach | Legally Blonde |
| 2007 | Steven Sater | Spring Awakening |
| 2007 | Alfred Uhry | LoveMusik |
| 2008 |
| 2008 | Douglas Carter Beane | Xanadu |
| 2008 | Harvey Fierstein | A Catered Affair |
| 2008 | Ben Katchor | The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island |
| 2008 | Jason Loewith and Joshua Schmidt | Adding Machine |
| 2008 | Stew | Passing Strange |
| 2008 | Eric H. Weinberger | Wanda's World |
| 2009 |
| 2009 | Lee Hall | Billy Elliot the Musical |
| 2009 | Steven Cosson and Jim Lewis | This Beautiful City |
| 2009 | Joe DiPietro | The Toxic Avenger |
| 2009 | Brian Hill | The Story of My Life |
| 2009 | David Lindsay-Abaire | Shrek the Musical |
| 2009 | Patricia Resnick | 9 to 5 |

### 2010s

| Year | Writer | Production |
| 2010 |
| 2010 | Alex Timbers | Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson |
| 2010 | Joe DiPietro | Memphis |
| 2010 | Joe Iconis | Bloodsong of Love |
| 2010 | Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott | Everyday Rapture |
| 2010 | David Thompson | The Scottsboro Boys |
| 2010 | David Zellnik | Yank! |
| 2011 |
| 2011 | Adam Mathias | See Rock City and Other Destinations |
| 2011 | Kristen Anderson-Lopez, James-Allen Ford, Russ Kaplan and Sara Wordsworth | In Transit |
| 2011 | Iris Rainer Dart | The People in the Picture |
| 2011 | Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott | Priscilla, Queen of the Desert |
| 2011 | Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone | The Book of Mormon |
| 2011 | Michael Zam | The Kid |
| 2012 |
| 2012 | Joe DiPietro | Nice Work If You Can Get It |
| 2012 | Douglas Carter Beane | Lysistrata Jones |
| 2012 | Janus Cercone and Warren Leight | Leap of Faith |
| 2012 | Joy Gregory | The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World |
| 2012 | Michael John LaChiusa | Queen of the Mist |
| 2012 | Thomas Meehan and Peter Stone | Death Takes a Holiday |
| 2013 |
| 2013 | Dennis Kelly | Matilda the Musical |
| 2013 | Sybille Pearson | Giant |
| 2013 | Joseph Robinette | A Christmas Story: The Musical |
| 2013 | David Rossmer and Steve Rosen | The Other Josh Cohen |
| 2013 | Jeff Whitty | Bring It On: The Musical |
| 2013 | Doug Wright | Hands on a Hardbody |
| 2014 |
| 2014 | Robert L. Freedman | A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder |
| 2014 | Chad Beguelin | Aladdin |
| 2014 | Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair | Murder for Two |
| 2014 | Lisa Kron | Fun Home |
| 2014 | Douglas McGrath | Beautiful: The Carole King Musical |
| 2014 | Marsha Norman | The Bridges of Madison County |
| 2015 |
| 2015 | Lin-Manuel Miranda | Hamilton |
| 2015 | Hunter Bell and Lee Overtree | Found |
| 2015 | Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell | Something Rotten! |
| 2015 | Craig Lucas | An American in Paris |
| 2015 | Terrence McNally | The Visit |
| 2015 | Kim Rosenstock, Will Connolly, and Michael Mitnick | Fly by Night |
| 2016 |
| 2016 | John Caird | Daddy Long Legs |
| 2016 | Michael John LaChiusa | First Daughter Suite |
| 2016 | Jessie Nelson | Waitress |
| 2017 |
| 2017 | Irene Sankoff and David Hein | Come from Away |
| 2017 | Terrence McNally | Anastasia |
| 2017 | Itamar Moses | The Band's Visit |
| 2017 | Richard Oberacker and Rob Taylor | Bandstand |
| 2017 | Joe Tracz | The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical |
| 2018 |
| 2018 | Tina Fey | Mean Girls |
| 2018 | Kyle Jarrow | SpongeBob SquarePants |
| 2018 | Peter Kellogg | Desperate Measures |
| 2018 | Hannah Moscovitch | Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story |
| 2019 |
| 2019 | Robert Horn | Tootsie |
| 2019 | Scott Brown and Anthony King | Beetlejuice |
| 2019 | Andrew R. Butler | Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future |
| 2019 | Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin | The Prom |
| 2019 | Dominique Morisseau | Ain't Too Proud |

### 2020s

| Year | Writer | Production |
| 2020 |
| 2020 | Michael R. Jackson | A Strange Loop |
| 2020 | David Henry Hwang | Soft Power |
| 2020 | Dave Malloy | Octet |
| 2020 | Lynn Nottage | The Secret Life of Bees |
| 2020 | Mark Saltzman | Romeo & Bernadette |
| 2020 | Dick Scanlan | The Unsinkable Molly Brown |
| 2021 | No awards: New York theatres shuttered, March 2020 to September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City | No awards: New York theatres shuttered, March 2020 to September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City |
| 2022 |
| 2022 | Bruce Sussman | Harmony: A New Musical |
| 2022 | Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel | Mr. Saturday Night |
| 2022 | Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss | Six |
| 2022 | Lynn Nottage | Intimate Apparel |
| 2023 |
| 2023 | Matthew López and Amber Ruffin | Some Like It Hot |
| 2023 | Jonathan Hogue | Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical |
| 2023 | Robert Horn | Shucked |
| 2023 | Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli, and Tye Blue | Titanique |
| 2023 | David West Read | & Juliet |
| 2024 |
| 2024 | Itamar Moses | Dead Outlaw |
| 2024 | Justin Huertas | Lizard Boy: The Musical |
| 2024 | Michael R. Jackson and Anna K. Jacobs | Teeth |
| 2024 | Michael John LaChiusa | The Gardens of Anuncia |
| 2024 | Rebekah Green Melocik | How to Dance in Ohio |