Celebrating Australian women’s contribution to literature, six extraordinary books have been announced on the 2015 Stella Prize shortlist.
From more than 150 entries, this year’s Stella Prize judges – critic and writer Kerryn Goldsworthy (chair); journalist and broadcaster Caroline Baum; writer and lecturer Tony Birch; singer–songwriter Sarah Blasko; and acclaimed author Melissa Lucashenko – selected a long-list of twelve books that they have now narrowed down to a shortlist of six.
The 2015 Stella Prize shortlist is:
Foreign Soil by Maxine Beneba Clarke (Hachette)
The Strays by Emily Bitto (Affirm Press)
The Invisible History of the Human Race by Christine Kenneally (Black Inc)
The Eye of the Sheep by Sofie Laguna (Allen & Unwin)
The Golden Age by Joan London (Random House)
Heat and Light by Ellen van Neerven (UQP)
“We are thrilled with the strength and diversity of the 2015 Stella Prize shortlist, says Stella Prize Executive Director, Aviva Tuffield. “These six remarkable books explore themes of identity, family, displacement and belonging, with distinctly Australian resonances.”
“Two of the books are debut works, which speaks to the talent of Australian women writers, even those just beginning their careers as authors. We are immensely grateful for the determination and rigour of our judging panel, who selected these six excellent, original and engaging books.”
Named after one of Australia’s iconic female authors, Stella Maria ‘Miles’ Franklin, the prize, first awarded in 2013 to Carrie Tiffany for Mateship with Birds, is worth $50,000, and both fiction and nonfiction books are eligible for entry. This year, shortlisted authors will each receive prize money of $2000, courtesy of the Nelson Meers Foundation. In 2014, the winner was Clare Wright for The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka.
The 2015 Stella Prize will be awarded in Melbourne on the evening of Tuesday 21 April. For more information, visit: www.thestellaprize.com.au for details.
Image: courtesy of the Stella Prize