The Nobel Prize in Literature 1936 was awarded to Eugene O'Neill "for the power, honesty and deep-felt emotions of his dramatic works, which embody an original concept of tragedy".

Eugene O'Neill received his Nobel Prize one year later, in 1937. During the selection process in 1936, the Nobel Committee for Literature decided that none of the year's nominations met the criteria as outlined in the will of Alfred Nobel. According to the Nobel Foundation's statutes, the Nobel Prize can in such a case be reserved until the following year, and this statute was then applied. Eugene O'Neill therefore received his Nobel Prize for 1936 one year later, in 1937.