The Edge of Water, the debut novel by Nigerian American writer Olufunke Grace Bankole, has been named the winner of the 2025 Westport Prize for Literature.
Set between Nigeria and the United States, The Edge of Water follows Amina, a young woman who leaves Nigeria for New Orleans to pursue a new life, only to have her dreams shattered by a hurricane. Years later, her daughter searches for answers about the mother she scarcely knew and the family she has yet to discover in Nigeria.
The annual $10,000 prize, now in its third year, recognizes original works of literary fiction that balance relevance with timelessness. Bankole will be honored at a ceremony on November 6 at The Westport Library in Connecticut, where she will join The Yale Review editor Meghan O’Rourke in a public conversation before signing copies of her book.
In announcing the win, Molly Stern, founder and CEO of Zando, which published the novel under its Tin House imprint, said:
“We are thrilled that the nominating committee and judging panel have honored Grace’s skillful, mesmerizing debut novel, The Edge of Water, by naming it the winner of this year’s Westport Literary Prize. This generous recognition of a work of uncompromising beauty is a true testament to Grace’s achievement, and to all that the Tin House list strives to represent with its publishing.”
The Westport Prize was first awarded in 2023 to Zadie Smith for The Fraud and in 2024 to Alejandro Puyana for Freedom Is a Feast. This year’s other finalists were O Sinners by Nicole Cuffy and Rabbit Moon by Jennifer Haigh.
Bankole, who lives in Portland, Oregon, is a graduate of Harvard Law School and a Soros Justice Advocacy Fellowship recipient. Her short stories and essays have appeared in Ploughshares, AGNI, and Michigan Quarterly Review, among other journals. She has also received fellowships and residencies from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Anderson Center, and the Oregon Literary Fellowship program.
Congratulations, Olufunke Grace Bankole on your big win!
Bakare Oluwatobiloba
I write to educate, motivate and define history with literature. Just being me!
