The latest news about the Stella prize, for fiction written by Australian women.
May 2024
Australian arts in focus
‘Perhaps the great Australian novel’: Alexis Wright wins Stella prize for second time with Praiseworthy
The 73-year-old has won the $60,000 prize for Australian female and non-binary writers for her ‘genre-bending’ 736-page novel
April 2024
Alexis Wright nominated for $60,000 Stella prize for second time
Judges have described the Waanyi writer’s fourth novel Praiseworthy as ‘a canon-crushing Australian novel for the ages’
April 2023
As my father died, the world never seemed more ordinary – yet I was witnessing a mystery
Sarah Holland-Batt
My father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s the year I turned 18. Like most women I know, caregiving has been woven into my working life, writes the 2023 Stella prize winner
Australian arts in focus
Sarah Holland-Batt wins Stella prize for ‘tender’ poems about her father’s death
Poet and outspoken advocate for aged care reform is the second poet in a row to win $60,000 award for Australian women and non-binary writers
The Conversation
Stella prize: an easy guide to the six books up for this year’s award
Ahead of the announcement of the 2023 winner on Thursday night, get across the six novels, poetry collections and genre-busting books up for the $60,000 prize
March 2023
Stella prize 2023 shortlist: small publishers dominate Australian literary award
No major publishers represented among final six books in contention for $60,000 prize for female authors
April 2022
Evelyn Araluen wins $60,000 Stella prize: ‘I was one paycheck away from complete poverty’
In the first year poetry was eligible to enter the Australian literary award, the debut poet has won for her collection Dropbear. She’s thrilled – but says prizes ‘cannot be the way we sustain the arts’
March 2022
‘Surprised and delighted’: poetry dominates Stella prize shortlist after change in rules
Three collections are up for the $50,000 Australian literary prize for women and non-binary writers, alongside a graphic novel, an essay and one novel
October 2021
Australian book reviews
Wild Abandon by Emily Bitto – a thrilling, irreverent take on the great American road trip
Australian arts in focus
10 years of the Stella: how Australia’s women’s writing prize changed a nation’s literature
April 2021
‘A true work of art’: Evie Wyld wins $50,000 Stella prize for The Bass Rock
The author’s third novel spans three eras to give voice to the ‘collective grief’ of violence against women. In 2021, it couldn’t be more timely
March 2021
Australian arts in focus
Stella prize 2021: finalists 'span the gamut' of human enterprise and experience
Twelve works have been longlisted for the $50,000 literary prize for Australian women and non-binary writers
June 2020
Author and festival director Caro Llewellyn appointed CEO of Melbourne's Wheeler Centre
Michael Williams stepped down in March after a decade as director of the centre for books, writing and ideas
April 2020
Jess Hill wins $50,000 Stella prize for See What You Made Me Do, book investigating domestic violence
Journalist’s ‘incredibly powerful’ work the result of four years of research into domestic abuse, with lens turned firmly on perpetrators
Stella prize 2020: watch the $50,000 literary award announcement here
Hosted by Patricia Karvelas, with a speech by Julia Gillard, the ceremony will be streamed below from 8pm AEST on Tuesday 14 April
Stella prize 2020: a reader's guide to the shortlist from Jess Hill to Charlotte Wood
Before the winner is announced on Tuesday night, let yourself sink into some of the best Australian writing in any genre
March 2020
Stella prize 2020: Charlotte Wood, Favel Parrett and Tara June Winch make shortlist
Josephine Rowe’s short story collection also honoured while Jess Hill and Caro Llewellyn round up nonfiction
February 2020
Does writing books still matter in an era of environmental catastrophe?
Briohny Doyle
In a speech made at the longlist announcement for the Stella prize, Briohny Doyle considers the role of literature in a time of climate crisis
October 2019
Heather Rose: 'When I get lost in my imagination I don’t feel the pain'
The Stella prize-winning novelist who chronicled the life of Marina Abramović talks about battling chronic illness and her explosive new novel
September 2019
Stella Count shows gender bias in book reviews is changing
Within six years of its introduction, nearly half of all book reviews in Australia in 2018 were of works by female authors
