# USC Scripter Awards

The USC Scripter Award (Scripter) is the name given to an award presented annually by the University of Southern California (USC) to honor both authors and screenwriters. Starting in 1988, the USC Libraries Board of Councilors award the year's best film adaptation of a printed work, recognizing the original author and the screenwriter.
In 2016, a second Scripter award, for episodic series adaption, was added. The Literary Achievement Award honors significant contributions to storytelling across form, genre, and medium. The Ex Libris Award recognizes long-time supporters of the USC Libraries. The latter two awards are presented on an occasional basis. Per the Scripter Awards website, "Scripter celebrates writers and writing, collaboration, and the profound results of transforming one artistic medium into another. It stands as an emblem of libraries’ ability to inspire creative and scholarly achievement."

## Film
### 1980s

| Year | Film | Nominees | Source Material |
| 1988 | 84 Charing Cross Road | Hugh Whitemore | The memoir by Helene Hanff |
| 1988 | The Dead | Tony Huston | The short story by James Joyce |
| 1988 | Housekeeping | Bill Forsyth | The novel by Marilynne Robinson |
| 1988 | The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne | Peter Nelson | The novel Judith Hearne by Brian Moore |
| 1988 | The Princess Bride | William Goldman | The novel by Goldman |
| 1989 | The Accidental Tourist | Frank Galati and Lawrence Kasdan | The novel by Anne Tyler |
| 1989 | Eight Men Out | John Sayles | The book Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series by Eliot Asinof |
| 1989 | Everybody's All-American | Thomas Rickman | The book by Frank Deford |
| 1989 | Madame Sousatzka | Ruth Prawler Jhabvala and John Schlesinger | The book by Bernice Rubens |

### 1990s

| Year | Film | Nominees | Source Material |
| 1990 | Awakenings | Steven Zaillian | The memoir by Oliver Sacks |
| 1990 | Dances with Wolves | Michael Blake | The novel by Blake |
| 1990 | Goodfellas | Nicholas Pileggi and Martin Scorsese | The book Wiseguy by Pileggi |
| 1990 | Misery | William Goldman | The novel by Stephen King |
| 1990 | Presumed Innocent | Frank Pierson and Alan J. Pakula | The novel by Scott Turow |
| 1991 | Fried Green Tomatoes | Fannie Flagg and Carol Sobieski | The novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Flagg |
| 1991 | At Play in the Fields of the Lord | Hector Babenco and Jean-Claude Carriere | The novel by Peter Matthiessen |
| 1991 | The Prince of Tides | Pat Conroy and Becky Johnston | The novel by Conroy |
| 1991 | Rambling Rose | Calder Willingham | The novel by Willingham |
| 1991 | The Silence of the Lambs | Ted Tally | The novel by Thomas Harris |
| 1992 | A River Runs Through It | Richard Friedenberg | The novella by Norman Maclean |
| 1992 | Enchanted April | Peter Barnes | The novel by Elizabeth von Arnim |
| 1992 | Howards End | Ruth Prawler Jhabvala | The novel by E.M. Forestor |
| 1992 | Malcolm X | Arnold Perl and Spike Lee | The book by Malcolm X and Alex Haley |
| 1992 | The Player | Michael Tolkin | The novel by Tolkin |
| 1993 | Schindler's List | Steven Zaillian | The novel Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally |
| 1993 | The Age of Innocence | Jay Cocks and Martin Scorsese | The novel by Edith Wharton |
| 1993 | The Joy Luck Club | Amy Tan and Ronald Bass | The novel by Tan |
| 1993 | The Remains of the Day | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | The novel by Kazuo Ishiguro |
| 1993 | Searching for Bobby Fischer | Steve Zaillian | The novel Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess by Fred Waitzkin |
| 1994 | The Shawshank Redemption | Frank Darabont | The short story Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King |
| 1994 | Forrest Gump | Eric Roth | The novel by Winston Groom |
| 1994 | Little Women | Robin Swicord | The novel by Louisa May Alcott |
| 1994 | Nobody's Fool | Robert Benton | The novel by Richard Russo |
| 1994 | Quiz Show | Paul Attanasio | The memoir Remembering America: A Voice From the Sixties by Richard Goodwin |
| 1995 | Sense and Sensibility | Emma Thompson | The novel by Jane Austen |
| 1995 | Apollo 13 | William Broyles Jr. and Al Reinert | The book Lost Moon by Jim Lovell and Jeffry Kluger |
| 1995 | Carrington | Christopher Hampton | The book Lytton Strachey by Michael Holroyd |
| 1995 | Devil in a Blue Dress | Carl Franklin | The book by Walter Mosley |
| 1995 | Get Shorty | Scott Frank | The novel by Elmore Leonard |
| 1996 | The English Patient | Anthony Minghella | The novel by Michael Ondaatje |
| 1996 | Cold Comfort Farm | Malcolm Bradbury | The novel by Stella Gibbons |
| 1996 | Dead Man Walking | Tim Robbins | The book by Helen Prejean |
| 1996 | Emma | Douglas McGrath | The novel by Jane Austen |
| 1996 | The Portrait of a Lady | Laura Jones | The novel by Henry James |
| 1997 | L.A. Confidential | Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland | The novel by James Ellroy |
| 1997 | Donnie Brasco | Paul Attanasio | The book Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia by Joseph D. Pistone and Richard Woodley |
| 1997 | The Rainmaker | Francis Ford Coppola | The novel by John Grisham |
| 1997 | The Sweet Hereafter | Atom Egoyan | The novel by Russell Banks |
| 1997 | The Wings of the Dove | Hossein Amini | The novel by Henry James |
| 1998 | A Civil Action | Steven Zaillian | The book by Jonathan Harr |
| 1998 | Gods and Monsters | Bill Condon | The novel Father of Frankenstein by Christopher Bram |
| 1998 | Primary Colors | Elaine May | The book Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics by Joe Klein |
| 1998 | A Simple Plan | Scott B. Smith | The novel by Smith |
| 1998 | The Thin Red Line | Terrence Malick | The novel by James Jones |
| 1999 | The Hurricane | Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon | The autobiography The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender To 45472 by Rubin Carter; the book Lazarus and the Hurricane: The Freeing of Rubin "The Hurricane" Carter by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton |
| 1999 | The Cider House Rules | John Irving | The novel by Irving |
| 1999 | The End of the Affair | Neil Jordan | The novel by Graham Greene |
| 1999 | The Green Mile | Frank Darabont | The novel by Stephen King |
| 1999 | The Talented Mr. Ripley | Anthony Minghella | The novel by Patricia Highsmith |

### 2000s

| Year | Film | Nominees | Source Material |
| 2000 | Wonder Boys | Steve Kloves | The book by Michael Chabon |
| 2000 | All the Pretty Horses | Ted Tally | The novel by Cormac McCarthy |
| 2000 | Chocolat | Robert Nelson Jacobs | The novel by Joanne Harris |
| 2000 | High Fidelity | D. V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink, John Cusack, and Scott Rosenberg | The novel by Nick Hornby |
| 2000 | The House of Mirth | Terence Davies | The novel by Edith Wharton |
| 2001 | A Beautiful Mind | Akiva Goldsman | The book by Sylvia Nasar |
| 2001 | Bridget Jones's Diary | Andrew Davies, Helen Fielding, and Richard Curtis | The novel by Fielding |
| 2001 | In the Bedroom | Robert Festinger and Todd Field | The short story Killings by Andre Dubus |
| 2001 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson, and Philippa Boyens | The novel The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien |
| 2001 | The Shipping News | Robert Nelson Jacobs | The novel by E. Annie Proulx |
| 2002 | The Hours | David Hare | The novel by Michael Cunningham |
| 2002 | About Schmidt | Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor | The novel by Louis Begley |
| 2002 | Adaptation | Charlie Kaufman | The book The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean |
| 2002 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | Fran Walsh, Stephen Sinclair, Peter Jackson, and Philippa Boyens | The novel The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien |
| 2002 | The Pianist | Ronald Harwood | The memoir by Władysław Szpilman |
| 2003 | Mystic River | Brian Helgeland | The novel by Dennis Lehane |
| 2003 | Seabiscuit | Gary Ross | The book Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand |
| 2003 | Cold Mountain | Anthony Minghella | The novel by Charles Frazier |
| 2003 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson, and Philippa Boyens | The novel Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien |
| 2003 | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | Peter Weir and John Collee | The novel by Patrick O'Brian |
| 2004 | Million Dollar Baby | Paul Haggis | The book Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner by F.X. Toole |
| 2004 | The Bourne Supremacy | Tony Gilroy | The novel by Robert Ludlum |
| 2004 | The Door in the Floor | Tod Williams | The novel A Widow for One Year by John Irving |
| 2004 | Friday Night Lights | Peter Berg, Buzz Bissinger, and David Aaron Cohen | The book Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H. G. Bissinger |
| 2004 | Sideways | Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor | The novel by Rex Pickett |
| 2005 | Capote | Dan Futterman | The novel by Gerald Clarke |
| 2005 | Brokeback Mountain | Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana | The short story by E. Annie Proulx |
| 2005 | The Constant Gardener | Jeffrey Caine | The novel by John le Carré |
| 2005 | A History of Violence | Josh Olson | The graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke |
| 2005 | Syriana | Stephen Gaghan | The memoir See No Evil by Robert Baer |
| 2006 | Children of Men | David Arata, Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, and Timothy J. Sexton | The novel The Children of Men by P. D. James |
| 2006 | The Devil Wears Prada | Aline Brosh McKenna | The novel by Lauren Weisberger |
| 2006 | The Illusionist | Neil Burger | The short story Eisenheim the IllusionistSteven Millhauser |
| 2006 | The Last King of Scotland | Jeremy Brock and Peter Morgan | The novel by Giles Foden |
| 2006 | Notes on a Scandal | Patrick Marber | The novel by Zoë Heller |
| 2007 | No Country for Old Men | Joel Coen and Ethan Coen | The novel by Cormac McCarthy |
| 2007 | Atonement | Christopher Hampton | The novel by Ian McEwan |
| 2007 | Into the Wild | Sean Penn | The book by Jon Krakauer |
| 2007 | There Will Be Blood | Paul Thomas Anderson | The novel Oil! by Upton Sinclair |
| 2007 | Zodiac | James Vanderbilt | The book by Robert Graysmith |
| 2008 | Slumdog Millionaire | Simon Beaufoy | The novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup |
| 2008 | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Eric Roth and Robin Swicord | The short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald |
| 2008 | Iron Man | Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway | The comic by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby |
| 2008 | The Reader | David Hare | The novel by Bernhard Schlink |
| 2008 | Revolutionary Road | Justin Haythe | The novel by Richard Yates |
| 2009 | Up in the Air | Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner | The novel by Walter Kirn |
| 2009 | Crazy Heart | Scott Cooper | The novel by Thomas Cobb |
| 2009 | District 9 | Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell | The short film Alive in Joburg by Blomkamp |
| 2009 | An Education | Nick Hornby | The memoir by Lynn Barber |
| 2009 | Precious | Geoffrey S. Fletcher | The novel Push by Sapphire |

### 2010s

| Year | Film | Nominees | Source Material |
| 2010 | The Social Network | Aaron Sorkin | The book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich |
| 2010 | 127 Hours | Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle | The book Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston |
| 2010 | The Ghost Writer | Robert Harris and Roman Polanski | The novel The Ghost by Harris |
| 2010 | True Grit | Joel Coen and Ethan Coen | The novel by Charles Portis |
| 2010 | Winter's Bone | Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini | The novel by Daniel Woodrell |
| 2011 | The Descendants | Alexander Payne, Jim Rash, and Nat Faxon | The novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings |
| 2011 | A Dangerous Method | Christopher Hampton | The play The Talking Cure by Hampton |
| 2011 | Jane Eyre | Moira Buffini | The novel by Charlotte Brontë |
| 2011 | Moneyball | Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, and Stan Chervin | The book by Michael Lewis |
| 2011 | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan | The novel by John le Carré |
| 2012 | Argo | Chris Terrio | The book The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez and the article The Great Escape by Joshuah Bearman |
| 2012 | Beasts of the Southern Wild | Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin | The play Juicy and Delicious by Alibar |
| 2012 | Life of Pi | David Magee | The novel by Yann Martel |
| 2012 | Lincoln | Tony Kushner | The book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin |
| 2012 | The Perks of Being a Wallflower | Stephen Chbosky | The novel by Chbosky |
| 2012 | Silver Linings Playbook | David O. Russell | The novel by Matthew Quick |
| 2013 | 12 Years a Slave | John Ridley | The memoir by Solomon Northup |
| 2013 | Captain Phillips | Billy Ray | The book A Captain's Duty by Richard Phillips and Stephan Talty |
| 2013 | Philomena | Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope | The book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by Martin Sixsmith |
| 2013 | The Spectacular Now | Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber | The novel by Tim Tharp |
| 2013 | What Maisie Knew | Carroll Cartwright and Nancy Doyne | The novel by Henry James |
| 2014 | The Imitation Game | Graham Moore | The book Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges |
| 2014 | Gone Girl | Gillian Flynn | The novel by Flynn |
| 2014 | Inherent Vice | Paul Thomas Anderson | The novel by Thomas Pynchon |
| 2014 | The Theory of Everything | Anthony McCarten | The book Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen Hawking by Jane Hawking |
| 2014 | Wild | Nick Hornby | The memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed |
| 2015 | The Big Short | Adam McKay and Charles Randolph | The book by Michael Lewis |
| 2015 | Brooklyn | Nick Hornby | The novel by Colm Tóibín |
| 2015 | The End of the Tour | Donald Margulies | The memoir Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself by David Lipsky |
| 2015 | The Martian | Drew Goddard | The novel by Andy Weir |
| 2015 | Room | Emma Donoghue | The novel by Donoghue |
| 2016 | Moonlight | Barry Jenkins | The play Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney |
| 2016 | Arrival | Eric Heisserer | The short story Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang |
| 2016 | Fences | August Wilson | The play by Wilson |
| 2016 | Hidden Figures | Theodore Melfi and Allison Schroeder | The book by Margot Lee Shetterly |
| 2016 | Lion | Luke Davies | The memoir A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley and Larry Buttrose |
| 2017 | Call Me by Your Name | James Ivory | The novel by André Aciman |
| 2017 | The Disaster Artist | Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber | The book by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell |
| 2017 | Logan | Scott Frank, Michael Green, and James Mangold | The comics by John Romita Sr. and Len Wein |
| 2017 | The Lost City of Z | James Gray | The book by David Grann |
| 2017 | Molly's Game | Aaron Sorkin | The memoir by Molly Bloom |
| 2017 | Mudbound | Dee Rees and Virgil Williams | The novel by Hillary Jordan |
| 2017 | Wonder Woman | Zack Snyder, Allan Heinberg, and Jason Fuchs | The comic by William Moulton Marston |
| 2018 | Leave No Trace | Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini | The novel My Abandonment by Peter Rock |
| 2018 | Black Panther | Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole | The comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby |
| 2018 | Can You Ever Forgive Me? | Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty | The memoir by Lee Israel |
| 2018 | The Death of Stalin | Armando Iannucci, David Schneider, and Ian Martin | The comics La Mort de Staline by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin |
| 2018 | If Beale Street Could Talk | Barry Jenkins | The novel by James Baldwin |
| 2019 | Little Women | Greta Gerwig | The novel by Louisa May Alcott |
| 2019 | Dark Waters | Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan | The article "The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare" by Nathaniel Rich |
| 2019 | The Irishman | Steven Zaillian | The book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt |
| 2019 | Jojo Rabbit | Taika Waititi | The novel Caging Skies by Christine Leunens |
| 2019 | The Two Popes | Anthony McCarten | The play The Pope by McCarten |

### 2020s

| Year | Film | Nominees | Source Material |
| 2020 | Nomadland | Chloé Zhao | The book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder |
| 2020 | Bad Education | Mike Makowsky | The New York magazine article "The Bad Superintendent" by Robert Kolker |
| 2020 | First Cow | Jonathan Raymond and Kelly Reichardt | The novel The Half-Life by Raymond |
| 2020 | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Ruben Santiago-Hudson | The play by August Wilson |
| 2020 | One Night in Miami... | Kemp Powers | The play by Powers |
| 2021 | The Lost Daughter | Maggie Gyllenhaal | The novel by Elena Ferrante |
| 2021 | Dune | Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts, and Denis Villeneuve | The novel by Frank Herbert |
| 2021 | Passing | Rebecca Hall | The novel by Nella Larsen |
| 2021 | The Power of the Dog | Jane Campion | The novel by Thomas Savage |
| 2021 | The Tragedy of Macbeth | Joel Coen | The play Macbeth by William Shakespeare |
| 2022 | Women Talking | Sarah Polley | The novel by Miriam Toews |
| 2022 | Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio | Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale, and Matthew Robbins | The fairy tale The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi |
| 2022 | Living | Kazuo Ishiguro | The novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy |
| 2022 | She Said | Rebecca Lenkiewicz | The nonfiction book She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey |
| 2022 | Top Gun: Maverick (nomination withdrawn) | Peter Craig, Ehren Kruger, Justin Marks, Christopher McQuarrie, and Eric Warren | The characters from the 1983 California magazine article "Top Guns" by Ehud Yonay |
| 2023 | American Fiction | Cord Jefferson | The novel Erasure by Percival Everett |
| 2023 | Killers of the Flower Moon | Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese | The nonfiction book by David Grann |
| 2023 | Oppenheimer | Christopher Nolan | The nonfiction book American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin |
| 2023 | Origin | Ava DuVernay | The nonfiction book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson |
| 2023 | Poor Things | Tony McNamara | The novel by Alasdair Gray |
| 2024 | Conclave | Peter Straughan | The novel by Robert Harris |
| 2024 | A Complete Unknown | James Mangold and Jay Cocks | The book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald |
| 2024 | Nickel Boys | RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes | The novel by Colson Whitehead |
| 2024 | Sing Sing | Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, and John "Divine G" Whitfield | The Esquire article "The Sing Sing Follies" by John H. Richardson |
| 2024 | The Wild Robot | Chris Sanders and Peter Brown | The novel by Peter Brown |

## Television
### 2010s

| Year | Program | Nominees | Source Material |
| 2015 | Show Me a Hero | David Simon and William F. Zorzi | The book by Lisa Belkin |
| 2015 | Game of Thrones ("Hardhome") | David Benioff and D. B. Weiss | The series of novels A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin |
| 2015 | The Leftovers ("Axis Mundi") | Damon Lindelof and Jacqueline Hoyt | The novel by Tom Perrotta |
| 2015 | The Man in the High Castle ("The New World") | Frank Spotnitz | The novel by Philip K. Dick |
| 2015 | Masters of Sex ("Full Ten Count") | Michelle Ashford | The biography Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love by Thomas Maier |
| 2016 | The Night Manager | David Farr | The novel by John le Carré |
| 2016 | The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story ("Manna from Heaven") | Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski | The book The Run of His Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson by Jeffrey Toobin |
| 2016 | Game of Thrones ("The Winds of Winter") | David Benioff and D. B. Weiss | The series of novels A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin |
| 2016 | The Man in the High Castle ("Fallout") | Erik Oleson | The novel by Philip K. Dick |
| 2016 | Orange Is the New Black ("Toast Can't Never Be Bread Again") | Tara Herrmann and Jenji Kohan | The memoir Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison by Piper Kerman |
| 2017 | The Handmaid's Tale ("Offred") | Bruce Miller | The novel by Margaret Atwood |
| 2017 | Big Little Lies ("You Get What You Need") | David E. Kelley | The novel by Liane Moriarty |
| 2017 | Alias Grace | Sarah Polley | The novel by Margaret Atwood |
| 2017 | Genius ("Einstein: Chapter One") | Noah Pink and Ken Biller | The book Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson |
| 2017 | The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Peter Landesman, Alexander Woo and George C. Wolfe | The book by Rebecca Skloot |
| 2017 | Mindhunter ("Chapter 10") | Joe Penhall and Jennifer Haley | The book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker |
| 2018 | A Very English Scandal | Russell T Davies | The book by John Preston |
| 2018 | The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story ("The Man Who Would Be Vogue") | Tom Rob Smith | The book Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History by Maureen Orth |
| 2018 | The Handmaid's Tale ("Holly") | Bruce Miller and Kira Snyder | The novel by Margaret Atwood |
| 2018 | The Looming Tower ("9/11") | Dan Futterman and Ali Selim | The novel by Lawrence Wright |
| 2018 | Patrick Melrose ("Bad News") | David Nicholls | The novels by Edward St Aubyn |
| 2018 | Sharp Objects ("Vanish") | Marti Noxon | The novel by Gillian Flynn |
| 2019 | Fleabag | Phoebe Waller-Bridge | The one-woman show by Waller-Bridge |
| 2019 | Fosse/Verdon ("Nowadays") | Joel Fields and Steven Levenson | The biography Fosse by Sam Wasson |
| 2019 | Killing Eve ("Nice and Neat") | Emerald Fennell | The novella series Codename Villanelle by Luke Jennings |
| 2019 | Unbelievable ("Episode 1") | Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman | The news article "An Unbelievable Story of Rape" by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong |
| 2019 | Watchmen ("This Extraordinary Being") | Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson | The comic by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons |

### 2020s

| Year | Program | Nominees | Source Material |
| 2020 | The Queen's Gambit ("Openings") | Scott Frank | The novel by Walter Tevis |
| 2020 | The Good Lord Bird ("Meet the Lord") | Mark Richard and Ethan Hawke | The novel by James McBride |
| 2020 | Normal People ("Episode 5") | Sally Rooney and Alice Birch | The novel by Rooney |
| 2020 | The Plot Against America ("Part 6") | Ed Burns and David Simon | The novel by Philip Roth |
| 2020 | Unorthodox ("Part 1") | Anna Winger | The autobiography Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by Deborah Feldman |
| 2021 | Dopesick (“The People vs. Purdue Pharma") | Danny Strong | The nonfiction book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy |
| 2021 | Maid ("Dollar Store") | Molly Smith Metzler | The memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land by Stephanie Land |
| 2021 | Station Eleven ("Wheel of Fire") | Patrick Somerville | The novel by Emily St. John Mandel |
| 2021 | The Underground Railroad ("Indiana Winter") | Barry Jenkins | The novel by Colson Whitehead |
| 2021 | WandaVision ("Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience") | Jac Schaeffer | The Marvel Comics characters of the name same created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby |
| 2022 | Slow Horses ("Failure's Contagious") | Will Smith | The novel by Mick Herron |
| 2022 | The Crown ("Couple 31") | Peter Morgan | The play The Audience by Peter Morgan |
| 2022 | Fleishman Is in Trouble ("The Liver") | Taffy Brodesser-Akner | The novel by Taffy Brodesser-Akner |
| 2022 | Tokyo Vice ("Yoshino") | J. T. Rogers | The memoir Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan by Jake Adelstein |
| 2022 | Under the Banner of Heaven ("When God Was Love") | Dustin Lance Black | The nonfiction book by Jon Krakauer |
| 2023 | Slow Horses ("Negotiating With Tigers") | Will Smith | The novel by Mick Herron |
| 2023 | The Crown ("Sleep, Dearie Sleep") | Peter Morgan | The play The Audience by Peter Morgan |
| 2023 | Daisy Jones & the Six ("Track 5: Fire") | Scott Neustadter | The novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid |
| 2023 | The Last of Us ("Long, Long Time") | Craig Mazin | The video game by Neil Druckmann and Naughty Dog |
| 2023 | Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty ("The New World") | Max Borenstein, Rodney Barnes, and Jim Hecht | The nonfiction work Showtime by Jeff Pearlman |
| 2024 | Say Nothing ("The People in the Dirt") | Joshua Zetumer | The book by Patrick Radden Keefe |
| 2024 | Baby Reindeer ("Episode 6") | Richard Gadd | The autobiographical one-man show by Richard Gadd |
| 2024 | Ripley ("V Lucio") | Steven Zaillian | The novel The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith |
| 2024 | Shōgun ("Anjin") | Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks | The novel by James Clavell |
| 2024 | Slow Horses ("Hello Goodbye") | Will Smith | The novel Spook Street by Mick Herron |

## Literary Achievement

* 2008 – Steven Zaillian
* 2009 – Michael Chabon
* 2010 – Eric Roth
* 2011 – Dennis Lehane
* 2012 – Paul Haggis
* 2013 – Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry
* 2014 – Robert Towne
* 2015 – Walter Mosley
* 2018 – Francis Ford Coppola
* 2020 – Susan Orlean
* 2022 – Barry Jenkins

## Ex Libris

* 2015 – Elaine Leventhal
* 2017 – Kathleen McCarthy Kostlan
* 2018 – Valerie and Ronald Sugar
* 2019 – George E. Isaacs
* 2020 – Glenn Sonnenberg
* 2021 – Greg Lucas