Small presses shine in Stella shortlist

Six ‘culture shifting’ books have been shortlisted for the $60,000 Stella Prize, which recognises the best books by Australian women.
The spines of six books are shown lined up against a greenish-yellow background.

For the first time in its 11-year history, all six books shortlisted for this year’s Stella Prize – an annual prize for Australian books by women writers that are original, excellent and engaging – are published by small or independent publishers.

Two works of non-fiction, a graphic memoir, one book of poetry and two novels have been shortlisted.

Each of the shortlisted authors receives $4000 in prize money.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts