Stella Prize 2020 Shortlist announced

Six authors, a mix of genres and $50,000 up for grabs. It can only mean one thing: the Stella Prize shortlist has arrived.

The Stella Prize, one of Australia’s most significant literary awards (and known for boosting sales of authors shortlisted) has announced the six books still in the running to take out the $50,000 major prize.

In alphabetical order of author surname, the 2020 Stella Prize shortlist is:

  • See What You Made Me Do by Jess Hill (Black Inc.)
  • Diving Into Glass by Caro Llewellyn (Penguin Random House)
  • There Was Still Love by Favel Parrett (Hachette Australia)
  • Here Until August by Josephine Rowe (Black Inc.)
  • The Yield by Tara June Winch (Penguin Random House)
  • The Weekend by Charlotte Wood (Allen & Unwin)

The Stella Prize 2020 shortlist features writers of ‘tremendous courage’, said Louise Swinn, Chair of the 2020 Judging Panel.

Read: How Stella has changed Miles

‘Writers across the gamut of their career appear on the 2020 Stella Prize shortlist, which includes authors who are household names alongside some we are just getting acquainted with. The six books on this year’s shortlist are all outward-looking, and they tell stories – of illness, family life, friendship, domestic abuse, and more – in remarkable ways,’ said Swinn.

‘If language is a tool, or a weapon, then these writers use their skills with tremendous courage. We found a lot to be hopeful about here, too – not just at the stories being told, but at the quality of the art being produced.’

This year each shortlisted author will receive $2,000, in addition to the longlist announcement award of $1,000 supported by The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.

For the fifth year running, each of the shortlisted authors will also receive a three-week writing retreat supported by the Trawalla Foundation.

The 2020 Stella Prize will be awarded in Sydney on the evening of Wednesday 8 April.

Brooke Boland
About the Author
Brooke Boland is a freelance writer based on the South Coast of NSW. She has a PhD in literature from the University of NSW. You can find her on Instagram @southcoastwriter.