Stella Prize Longlist 2022

The 2022 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:

Evie Wyld for The Bass Rock (2021)

Jess Hill for See What You Made Me Do (2020)

Vicki Laveau-Harvie for The Erratics (2019)

Alexis Wright for Tracker (2018)

Heather Rose for The Museum of Modern Love (2017)

Charlotte Wood for The Natural Way of Things (2016)

Emily Bitto for The Strays (2015)

Claire Wright for The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka (2014)

Carrie Tiffany for Mateship with Birds (2013)

I credit the Stella Prize with introducing me to many authors that I would not have otherwise read.

On 2 March 2022, the longlist for this year's Stella Prize was announced with 12 nominees. I have not read any of the titles, and many of the authors are unknown to me, so I look forward to exploring these books further.

The 2022 longlist is as follows:

Randa Abdel-Fattah - Coming of Age in the War on Terror

A non-fiction account of a generation growing up during the war on terror and the climate of Islamaphobia, fear and distrust that permeates young people's consciousness. Adbel-Fattah is an academic, author and lawyer who interviewed young people about the rise of the far-right and their sense of belonging. 

Eunice Andrada - Take Care

This is the first year that poetry is eligible for the Stella Prize. Andrada's collection of verse  has been described by the judges as a meditation 'on the ethics of care and the need to dismantle in order to recollect, to recover, and to create.' This poetry is personal and political, reflecting on rape culture, justice systems, sexual violence, colonialism and more. This is Andrada's second collection of poetry. Her previous collection Flood Damages was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Poetry.

Evelyn Araluen - Dropbear

This debut collection of  poetry and short prose exploring language and identity. Araluen critiques a nostalgic view of Australia. The judges report that 'Araluen's brilliance sizzles when she goes on the attack against the kitsch and the cuddly: against Australia's fantasy of its own racial and environmental innocence.' She bears witness to the present, and hopes for a decolonial future. 

Paige Clark - She is Haunted

Chinese/American/Australian author Paige Clark explores transnational identity, intergenerational trauma, mother-daughter relationships and more in this collection of short stories. The stories each feature protagonists caught in a moment of uncertainty. The judges report that 'Clark expertly threads together fractured lines of intergenerational, transnational, and diasporic identity'. 

Anwen Crawford - No Document 

Crawford is the author of Live Through This and is best known for her writing as a critic (The Monthly, Sydney Review of Books, The New Yorker). No Document is a long from poetic essay which explores grief as a catalyst for living with greater compassion. An elegy for the loss of a beloved friend, Crawford's work is described by the judges as 'a complex, deeply thought, and deeply felt ode to friendship and collaboration.' 

Jennifer Down - Bodies of Light

Maggie Sullivan is institutionalised, growing up in a foster homes and group facilities after her father is jailed. Neglected and abused, by 19 she is diagnosed with depression and trauma. The novel follows Maggie into adulthood, when she is forced to encounter her long buried past. The judges describe this novel as 'a daring and compelling work, suffused with pathos and an impressive degree of empathic vulnerability'.

Anita Heiss - Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray

Wiradjuri woman Dr Anita Heiss is an inspirational advocate for First Nations people. In this novel, inspired by a true story of Wiradyuri men who saved the lives of sixty people in a flood in 1852, the mighty Murrumbidgee River surges on Gundagai, devastating the town. This is a story of love, loss and belonging. Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray was shortlisted for the ARA Historical Novel Prize and Highly Commended in the 2022 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. 

Lee Lai - Stone Fruit

In this graphic novel Bron and Ray are a queer couple who have reached a point of impasse in their relationship. While they love spending time with their six-year old niece Nessie, there are unresolved issues within their families of origin which they must address in order to move forward as a couple. Lai uses a muted colour palette of blues and greys to bring this story to life. The judges said 'this is a deceptively simple depiction of the many various and complicated versions of familial love and care in our lives'. 

S J Norman - Permafrost

This collection of short stories explores desire, loss and longing. The judges report that 'Norman has a real talent for creating a sense of disquiet... that is both eerie and restless, and not often found today in fiction.' Permafrost is Norman's first book. Artist, writer and curator, Norman spent twenty years compiling these stories. 

Elfie Shiosaki - Homecoming

A genre-defying book, Homecoming is a collection of poetry, prose and historical archives which is also an ode to the Noongar people. The judges report that 'Shiosaki has delivered a work of poetic and narrative genius and can be read either as an ensemble of poems or as a single piece that moves seamlessly between the elegiac and the joyful.' The author is a Noongar and Yawuru writer and a lecture at the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Western Australia.



Lucy Van - The Open

A prose poetry collection, The Open explores the pressure of colonisation and capitalism, and the alienation and dislocation they engender. The judges report that 'Van starts with the familiar, then accelerates and expands on its implications, always taking the reader to a fresh space in which to turn these ideas over in the mind again and again and find new meaning in them.' Van's work has appeared in a variety of publications, but The Open is her first poetry collection.

Chelsea Watego - Another Day in the Colony

This is a collection of essays examining the ongoing and daily racism faced by First Nations people. Unapologetically written for her community, Watego stands her ground against colonialism. The judges report ' Watego's descriptions of the institutional and physical violence Aboriginal people are forced to endure in contemporary Australia are clear, urgent, and white hot with rage. At the same time, her portraits of moments with family, community, and ancestors are tender, vulnerable and joyous.' 

For more information and the complete judges comments, see the Stella Prize website. 

I am not sure how I feel about the longlist. It is pleasing to see such diverse authors recognised for their work and the exposure to wider audiences that an award like this brings. It is also lovely that poetry is now included, however this list seems to be have too many poetry collections and not enough novels and non-fiction for my liking. However as a reader, I am not really excited by the list. Normally there are a handful of titles that I am keen to read, but there is nothing here that I would rush out to find. Of the titles I would be most interested in are those by Anita Heiss, Lee Lai and SJ Norman.

The Shortlist will be announced on 31 March 2022.  Happy reading!