South Pacific is a musical, with music by Richar Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and book by both Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story is based on two short stories by James A. Michener from his Pulitzer Prize-winning 1948 book, Tales of the South Pacific. The musical won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950. The issue of racial prejudice was sensitively and candidly explored, particularly for a 1949 stage work.