Now in its twelfth year, the annual Stella Prize for books continues to hold its place as one of the most significant honours in the Australian literary landscape. For more than a decade now, the prize has been a vital presence for platforming and amplifying the voices and stories of women and non-binary authors across the country – and their newly announced 2024 shortlist is no exception to this legacy.
With some notable past winners including Dropbear by Evelyn Araluen and Tracker by Alexis Wright, the prize has a track-record of platforming outstanding voices.
Of this year's shortlist Stella Prize judging panel Chair, Beejay Silcox said: "All of life and death is here in these pages: illness, madness, love, sex, slaughter, parenthood, sovereignty, climate, Country. But none of the books on this shortlist tell readers what to think. They do not hector, lecture or preach. Rather, they open spaces for doubt and self-examination, disagreement and camaraderie, rage, absurdity and exultation for the grotesque and the gorgeous. They invite us in. And they trust us to make up our own minds. This is the quality that distinguished them in the judging room: their mighty generosity."
Who is on the 2024 Stella Prize shortlist?
The books on the 2024 Stella Prize shortlist are:
- Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright (Giramondo Publishing)
- Feast by Emily O’Grady (Allen & Unwin)
- Abandon Every Hope: Essays for the Dead by Hayley Singer (Upswell Publishing)
- Body Friend by Katherine Brabon (Ultimo Press)
- The Swift Dark Tide by Katia Ariel (Gazebo Books)
- Hospital by Sanya Rushdi (Giramondo Publishing)
Who are the 2024 Stella Prize judges?
This year, the Stella Prize judging panel is made up of Beejay Silcox (Chair), Eleanor Jackson, Cheryl Leavy, Bram Presser, and Dr Yves Rees.
When will the 2024 winner be announced?
The 2024 Stella Prize winner will be announced on Thursday 2 May at the State Library of Victoria, and online via the Stella Prize YouTube channel.
How does the Stella Prize work?
The Stella Prize is a literary competition open to books by Australian women and non-binary writers across all genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry or graphic novels). A judging panel will select a shortlist, and a singular prize winner from entrants each year, based upon the criterion of originality, excellence and how engaging the work was.
Books eligible for the prize each year must have been first published between 1 January and 31 December of the year prior (i.e. the 2024 prize was open to books first published between 1 January 2023 – 31 December 2023).
