2025 Westport Prize For Literature Competition Launched

News release from the Westport Library:

WESTPORT, CT — Westport has always been a town of people who love books and love to read. Now, the town’s readers can help select the winner of the third annual Westport Prize for Literature.

The Westport Prize is looking for readers to help vet manuscripts for its 2025 honor, which it plans to award this fall in conjunction with StoryFest, the annual literary festival held at The Westport Library.

Those interested can volunteer via the form on The Westport Prize for Literature homepage. Readers must be Westport residents.

Readers are expected to read two to three manuscripts and then submit their feedback via an online form. (There is an opportunity to read more books if you have time to do so). The results of that review will help determine which finalists advance to a select, independent jury that will decide the 2025 prize.

The Westport Prize for Literature is an annual prize “established to honor an original work of literary fiction that is both relevant and timeless.” In 2023 it was awarded to acclaimed author Zadie Smith for The Fraud, and last year Alejandro Puyana was honored for his dazzling debut novel Freedom is a Feast.

The prize is overseen and administered by a steering committee of Westport resident volunteers, with the jury selecting the winner and the Library hosting the award celebration.

About The Westport Library

Founded in 1886, built in 1908, and transformed in 2019, The Westport Library is one of the most active and innovative public libraries in the nation, devoted to enriching the intellectual and creative lives of the community. Among its many highlights are a full collection of books for children, teens, and adults; an engaging and colorful Children’s Library; a MakerSpace; a Library of Things; a Seed Library; a robust café and store; and professional art installations that rotate throughout the year. The Westport Library is also home to Verso Studios, replete with an SSL hybrid analog sound studio and broadcast control suite featuring a state-of-the-art console and six robotic cameras, and the Trefz Forum, an open, flexible space that can accommodate up to 600 patrons and features an 18-foot video wall, 35-foot stage, state-of-the-art sound, and theatrical lighting. Situated in the heart of downtown Westport overlooking the scenic Saugatuck River, The Westport Library annually hosts StoryFest, the largest literary festival in Connecticut, and VersoFest, its multi-day music and media festival. Above all, the Library strives to serve the whole community as a vibrant gathering spot where people of all ages come to seek information, gain knowledge, exchange ideas, and share experiences. For more information, visit westportlibrary.org.

About the Westport Prize for Literature

The Westport Prize for Literature is an annual prize established to honor an original work of literary fiction that is both relevant and timeless. The prize is overseen and administered by a steering committee of Westport resident volunteers, with an independent jury selecting the winner. The prize is open to an author of an original work of long-form fiction published in the United States each calendar year (between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2025, for the 2025 prize). For more information, visit westportlibrary.org/westport-prize-for-literature.