Stella Prize

The Stella Prize is an Australian annual literary award established in 2013 for writing by Australian women in all genres, worth $50,000. It was originally proposed by Australian women writers and publishers in 2011, modelled on the UK's Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize for Fiction).^[1]

The award derives its name from the author Miles Franklin, whose full name was "Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin".^[2]

It was established by a group of 11 Australian women writers, editors, publishers and booksellers who became concerned about the poor representation of books by women in Australia's top literary prize, the Miles Franklin Award. ^[3][4]

"After a rapid acceleration in women's rights in the '70s and '80s, things have started to go backwards," Sophie Cunningham said in a keynote address at the 2011 Melbourne Writers' Festival. "Women continue to be marginalised in Australian culture and, the arts sector – which likes to pride itself on its liberal values – is, in fact, complacent. Women are much less likely to win literary awards, to write reviews of books, or have their books reviewed. This, despite the fact they write about half the books published."^[5]

Some commentators, such as Erin Handley writing in The Age, have said that fiction and non-fiction are different genres that should be judged separately, highlighting that this is an issue for the Stella Prize. But this is rejected by Dr Kerryn Goldsworthy, the chair of the Stella judging panel, who has stated that comparing fiction and non-fiction is "no harder than comparing books in general", and that "excellence is achievable in any form".^[6]

Award winners

Year	Author	Title	Publisher
2016	Charlotte Wood	The Natural Way of Things[7]	Allen and Unwin
2015	Emily Bitto	The Strays[8]	Affirm Press
2014	Clare Wright	The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka[9]	Text Publishing
2013	Carrie Tiffany	Mateship with Birds [10]	Pan Macmillan

Shortlists

2016^[11]

• Six Bedrooms – Tegan Bennett Daylight
• Hope Farm — Peggy Frew
• A Few Days in the Country: And Other Stories — Elizabeth Harrower
• The World Without Us — Mireille Juchau
• The Natural Way of Things — Charlotte Wood
• Small Acts of Disappearance : Essays on Hunger — Fiona Wright

2015^[12]

• Foreign Soil – Maxine Beneba Clarke
• The Strays – Emily Bitto
• The Invisible History of the Human Race – Christine Kenneally
• The Eye of the Sheep – Sofie Laguna
• The Golden Age – Joan London
• Heat and Light – Ellen van Neerven

2014^[13]

• Burial Rites – Hannah Kent
• Night Games: Sex, Power and Sport – Anna Krien
• The Night Guest – Fiona McFarlane
• Boy, Lost: A Family Memoir – Kristina Olsson
• The Swan Book – Alexis Wright
• The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka – Clare Wright

2013^[14]

• The Burial – Courtney Collins
• Questions of Travel – Michelle de Kretser
• The Sunlit Zone – Lisa Jacobson
• Like a House on Fire – Cate Kennedy
• Sea Hearts – Margo Lanagan
• Mateship with Birds – Carrie Tiffany

Longlists

2016^[15]

• The Women's Pages — Debra Adelaide
• The Other Side of the World — Stephanie Bishop
• Panthers and the Museum of Fire — Jen Craig
• Six Bedrooms – Tegan Bennett Daylight
• Hope Farm — Peggy Frew
• A Few Days in the Country: And Other Stories — Elizabeth Harrower
• A Guide to Berlin — Gail Jones
• The World Without Us — Mireille Juchau
• A Short History of Richard Kline — Amanda Lohrey
• Anchor Point — Alice Robinson
• The Natural Way of Things — Charlotte Wood
• Small Acts of Disappearance : Essays on Hunger — Fiona Wright

2015^[16]

• Foreign Soil – Maxine Beneba Clarke
• The Strays – Emily Bitto
• Only the Animals – Ceridwen Dovey
• This House of Grief – Helen Garner
• Golden Boys – Sonya Hartnett
• The Invisible History of the Human Race – Christine Kenneally
• The Eye of the Sheep – Sofie Laguna
• The Golden Age – Joan London
• Laurinda – Alice Pung
• Nest – Inga Simpson
• Heat and Light – Ellen van Neerven
• In My Mother’s Hands – Biff Ward

2014^[17]

• Letter to George Clooney – Debra Adelaide
• Moving Among Strangers: Randolph Stow and My Family – Gabrielle Carey
• Burial Rites – Hannah Kent
• Night Games: Sex, Power and Sport – Anna Krien
• Mullumbimby – Melissa Lucashenko
• The Night Guest – Fiona McFarlane
• Boy, Lost: A Family Memoir – Kristina Olsson
• The Misogyny Factor – Anne Summers
• Madeleine: A Life of Madeleine St John – Helen Trinca
• The Swan Book – Alexis Wright
• The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka – Clare Wright
• All the Birds, Singing – Evie Wyld

2013^[18]

• Floundering – Romy Ash
• Mazin Grace – Dylan Coleman
• The Burial – Courtney Collins
• The People Smuggler – Robin de Crespigny
• Questions of Travel – Michelle de Kretser
• Sufficient Grace – Amy Espeseth
• The Sunlit Zone – Lisa Jacobson
• Like a House on Fire – Cate Kennedy
• Sea Hearts – Margo Lanagan
• The Mind of a Thief – Patti Miller
• An Opening – Stephanie Radok
• Mateship with Birds – Carrie Tiffany

See also

• Sophie Cunningham

References

1. Alison Flood (4 May 2011). "Australian 'Orange prize' to promote women writers' status". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
2. Elizabeth Webby, writing at the Stellas, Miles Franklin and Kibble awards, The Conversation, 28 April 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014
3. "Stella Prize website".
4. Alison Flood (2 November 2012). "Canada and Australia launch women's literary prizes". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
5. Coslovich, Gabriella (29 August 2011). "Female-only literary prize puts gender on the agenda". Melbourne: The Age.
6. Erin Handley, The problem with the Stella Prize. , The Age, 6 May 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014
7. "Charlotte Wood's The Natural Way of Things wins $50,000 Stella prize", The Guardian, 19 April 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2016
8. 2015 The Stella Prize, The Stella Prize. Retrieved 24 June 2015
9. Anne Maria Nicholson Stella Prize: Clare Wright wins $50,000 book award for The Forgotten Rebels Of Eureka, ABC News, 30 April 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014
10. Bronwyn Lea, Carrie Tiffany wins a Stella Prize of her own, The Conversation, 17 April 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2014
11. The Stella Prize 2016 Shortlist, The Stella Prize. Retrieved 10 March 2016
12. The Stella Prize 2015 Shortlist, The Stella Prize. Retrieved 24 June 2015
13. The Stella Prize 2014 Shortlist, The Stella Prize. Retrieved 24 June 2015
14. The Stella Prize 2013 Shortlist, The Stella Prize. Retrieved 24 June 2015
15. The Stella Prize 2016 Longlist, The Stella Prize. Retrieved 10 March 2016
16. The Stella Prize 2015 Longlist, The Stella Prize. Retrieved 25 June 2015
17. The Stella Prize 2014 Longlist, The Stella Prize. Retrieved 25 June 2015
18. The Stella Prize 2013 Longlist, The Stella Prize. Retrieved 25 June 2015