The 2021 Stella Prize longlist has been announced! The annual literary award celebrating women and non-binary writers of both fiction and non-fiction is named after Australian author Stella Miles Franklin. Past winners include:
I credit the Stella Prize with introducing me to many authors that I would not have otherwise read.
On 4 March 2021, the longlist for this year's Stella Prize was announced with 12 nominees. I have already read one of the books - Louise Milligan's brilliant Witness - so far. Many of the books and authors are unknown to me so I look forward to exploring these titles.
The 2021 longlist is as follows:
Rebecca Giggs - Fathoms: The World in the Whale
Blending natural history, science and philosophy, Fathoms explores the impact of climate change on whales. The judges described this book as a 'haunting piece of narrative non-fiction that asks pertinent questions about how globalisation, consumption and our obsession with convenience is threatening the environment in connected and devastating ways.' Hailing from Perth, WA, Giggs' writings have appeared in numerous publications. Fathoms is her first book.
Two siblings experience different upbringings in the same household. Yannie is smart and savvy, but her ambitions are quashed by her brother Shan, whom their parents favour. Yannie rages against the pigeonhole her family, their community and others try to place her in. As she begins to find her voice, she seeks retribution. Lim is also the author of Real Differences.
Jean is a grandmother who prefers the company of animals to people. She works as a guide at an outback wildlife park, and has formed an attachment to a dingo named Sue. When a pandemic spreads across the country, people begin to lose their minds. Fearing for the safety of her granddaughter, Jean and Sue take off on a road trip to find her. The Animals in that Country won the 2021 Victorian Prize for Literature and the Victorian Premier's Literary Award.
Investigative journalist Louise Milligan's brilliant book centres on the devastating impact the judicial system can have on victims of sexual abuse. She interviews victims, lawyers, social workers and judges for multiple perspectives, and makes recommendations for how the legal system can be overhauled to reduce trauma and encourage victims to come forward. I read this book earlier this year and was enthralled by the calibre of the research, quality writing and courageous challenge to an entrenched, archaic system. My review explores this incredible book in more detail.
Fourteen-year-old Dylan is grieving for her mother when she embarks on a journey with her late mother's grieving boyfriend Pat across Australia. She is struggling with grief, her teenaged emotions, and a feeling that she doesn't fit in as she struggles to accept her Guyanese heritage. The Stella Prize judges call this book 'an outstanding young adult novel about family, grief and identity'. Moore is a freelance writer and teacher of creative writing at the University of Melbourne.
Written in a 'choose your own adventure' style, The Wandering begins with the Devil offering the narrator a pair of red shoes that will allow her to travel around the globe. Where to go? The destinations chosen will turn the traveller into a tourist, an undocumented migrant, a nomad or find a home. Paramaditha, author of Apple and Knife (short story collection), currently teaches media and film studies at Macquarie University. Intrigued, I have just ordered this at my local library. (Update - April 2021: Read Review)
Set in the gold-rush era, this is the story of two siblings who leave China for Australia to seek their fortune. They find work in a town near the goldfields and begin to form relationships in the community. But when a crime is committed, all outsiders are considered suspects. Riwoe was previously shortlisted for the Stella Prize for her novel The Fish Girl. Stone Sky Gold Mountain won the Queensland Literary Award for Fiction and the ARA Historical Novel Prize.
The judges describe Savage's 'exquisite' work as 'a challenge to the world to discard preconceptions about the form and structure of an essay or memoir'. This is a memoir of sorts, written as a collection of essays blending form. Shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award, this is Savage's debut collection. Another book I have reserved at the library.
Darnmoor is the home of three generations of the Billymil family, who reside on the outskirts of a rural town. Over the years they experience the impacts of racism, violence, dispossession and colonialism and the intergenerational trauma that endures. The judges describe the Song of the Crocodile as 'a novel that contributes to a deeper understanding of Australia's history, and tells the stories of First Nations people in a voice and tone that has for so long been missing from our literary canon.' Simpson is a musician, playwright and Yuwaalaraay storyteller. This novel was shortlisted for the 2021 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards and Indie Book Awards.
Tan has produced a witty collection of short stories. The judges write 'food scarcity, environmental destruction, capitalist bureaucracy and misogyny are just some of the ideas explored in the collection - in tales that feature mermaids, devious cats, and mangled 90s ballads. Impressively, Tan never loses sight of the characters at the heart of these stories...' Tan's collection won the 2020 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction.
Jena Lin was a child violin prodigy but at 22 she is a washed-up has-been. Struggling to reconcile her potential and reality, Jena travels to New York to take up an internship at the Philharmonic. Is this the second chance she needs? Tu is a classical violinist turned journalist. This debut novel is described by the judges as 'fresh, contemporary and bold - and has been crafted with verve...'
This novel weaves together the lives of three women across four centuries. The Bass Rock sits off the coast of Scotland and these three women are linked to this place and each other. Sarah is accused of being a witch in the early 1700s, Ruth moves into a new house after WWII, six decades later Viv catalogues Ruth's belongings. Evie Wyld won the Miles Franklin Award (and countless others) for her 2014 novel All The Birds, Singing. I bought this book late last year and look forward to reading it.
In compiling this longlist, the judges have chosen books that 'span the gamut of human enterprise and experience'. For more information and the complete judges comments, see the Stella Prize website.
The Shortlist will be announced on 25 March 2021. While I am terrible at predicting these things, my bet on for shortlisted works would include McKay, Milligan, Riwoe, Simpson and Wyld. Happy reading!