The Stella Prize judges have revealed the six authors who have made it to their 2019 shortlist. Timing the announcement with International Women’s Day, judging panel chair Louise Swinn described the chosen works as “an incredibly diverse knot of books. […] The books on this shortlist inform and entertain, and while they speak absolutely to our moment, their insights are timeless.”
First awarded in 2013, the Stella Prize celebrates the contribution of female authors to Australian literature, and is named for named for My Brilliant Career author Stella Maria Sarah ‘Miles’ Franklin. The prize is open to both fiction and non-fiction works.
Each shortlisted author will receive a $3,000 prize, thanks to the the Ivy H. Thomas and Arthur A. Thomas Trust managed by Equity Trustees, as well as a place at the Stella Grasstrees Writing Retreat, supported by the Trawalla Foundation.
The main prize, which will be announced in Melbourne on April 9th, is a hefty $50,000.
The shortlisted works are as follows:
- Little Gods by Jenny Ackland (Allen & Unwin)
- The Bridge by Enza Gandolfo (Scribe Publishing)
- Pink Mountain on Locust Island by Jamie Marina Lau (Brow Books)
- The Erratics by Vicki Laveau-Harvie (Fourth Estate)
- Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko (UQP)
- Axiomatic by Maria Tumarkin (Brow Books)
This year’s Stella Prize judges are writer, editor, publisher and reviewer Louise Swinn (chair); former bookseller and LGBTIQ Health Promotion Officer Amelia Lush; award-winning writer Michelle de Kretser; journalist, radio broadcaster and writer Daniel Browning; and award-winning investigative journalist Kate McClymont.
For more information on the Stella Prize and the shortlisted works, check out the award’s website here.
