WESTPORT–Good People, the debut novel by Patmeena Sabit about a refugee family from Kabul prospering in Virginia when tragedy strikes, has been chosen for the 2026 Westport Prize for Literature, the Westport Library announced today.

“I am honored and thrilled that Good People has been selected as the winner of this year’s Westport Prize for Literature,” Sabit said in a press release from the library. “Writing a book is in many ways an act of faith—in yourself and your abilities and your vision for the story. But during the years I was writing this book one of the hardest things was keeping that faith, and there were many moments when I was very close to giving up. So to have my work recognized in this way is incredible and deeply humbling and I couldn’t be more grateful. Thank you.”

The library will host a ceremony to present Sabit with the $10,000 prize at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Trefz Forum.

During the ceremony, Sabit will engage in conversation with Meghan O’Rourke, editor of The Yale Review. Copies of Good People will be available to be purchased and signed by Sabit will sign books afterward. For more information about the event, click here.

Now in its fourth year, the prize honors original works of literary fiction published in the United States that are “both relevant and timeless,” the release said. It is administered by Westport resident volunteers. An independent jury chose Good People over two other finalists, Transcription by Ben Lerner and The Children by Melissa Albert.

Submissions for the 2026 prize were read and vetted by a team of nearly 50 Westport-based volunteer readers. The best-reviewed manuscripts advanced to the jury that chose the winner. The jurors for 2026 were playwright and author Tommy Greenwald, book blogger and aggregator Suzanne Leopold, publishing industry veteran Erica Melnichok, The Lifeboat author Charlotte Rogan and freelance editor Stephanie Klose.

The novel has drawn acclaim. Ann Patchett called it “a thrilling tour de force of a novel. I’ll be recommending this book to everyone.” Author Tommy Orange, writing in The New York Times, described it as a “gorgeous and powerful debut” and Khaled Hosseini called it “a stunning read.” Booklist praised it as “at once heartbreaking and hypnotic.”

Sabit tells the story of the immigrant family through the many lenses of neighbors and others who have observed them.

“Writing with the austere precision of a master of the domestic interior, Sabit has constructed a narrative that functions as a trial where the defendants — the Sharaf family — are never allowed to take the stand in their own defense,” Orange wrote.

A national bestseller, Good People was longlisted for the Giller Prize, given to Canadian authors. Sabit, who was born in Kabul and grew up in Virginia, now lives in Toronto.

The inaugural Westport Prize for Literature was given to Zadie Smith for her 2023 novel The Fraud. The other winners were Alejandro Puyana in 2024 prize for his debut novel Freedom is a Feast, and Olufunke Grace Bankole last year for her debut novel The Edge of Water.

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