The Stella Prize longlist for 2021 has just been announced and it’s bulging with books I actually want to read, unlike last year when I thought it was just trying too hard to cover every kind of book imaginable.
I’m delighted to see this year’s list features a couple of books I have already read (see the pink hyperlinks below) and pretty much everything else is already in my TBR or has been previously added to my wishlist. Only a few are completely new to me (the Lim, Milligan and Moore).
This is what is on the list:
- Fathoms: the world in the whale, by Rebecca Giggs (Scribe Publications)
- Revenge: Murder in Three Parts, by S.L. Lim (Transit Lounge)
- The Animals in That Country, by Laura Jean McKay ((Scribe Publications)
- Witness, by Louise Milligan (Hachette Australia)
- Metal Fish, Falling Snow, by Cath Moore (Text Publishing)
- The Wandering, by Intan Paramaditha (Penguin Random House)
- Stone Sky Gold Mountain, by Mirandi Riwoe (University of Queensland Press)
- Blueberries, by Ellena Savage (Text Publishing)
- Song of the Crocodile, by Nardi Simpson (Hachette Australia)
- Smart Ovens for Lonely People, by Elizabeth Tan (Brio Books)
- A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing, by Jessie Tu (Allen & Unwin)
- The Bass Rock, by Evie Wyld (Penguin Random House)
Once #SouthernCrossCrime2021 is over, I will look at reading everything on the shortlist, which will be announced on 25 March. The winner will be named on 22 April.
Only books (fiction and non-fiction) published by Australian women between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2020 are eligible for the $50,000 prize.
You can read the official announcement here.
Reading Matters 
Really keen to read The Bass Rock and A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing.
LikeLike
I hope A Lonely Girl gets a UK publication date soon… it really is an excellent book. I heard her speak at the Perth Festival a few weeks ago and was impressed by what she had to say. She’s clearly super intelligent and ambitious.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve read Revenge, but I can think of at least three books that I’d have placed rather than that one: The Labyrinth by Amanda Lohrey; Dragon’s Gate by Vivian Bi; and Untethered, by Hayley Katzen.
I’ve got Simpson and Riwoe on the TBR but nothing else interests me much. Maybe a review from someone I trust would change my mind…
LikeLike
I plan on reading the shortlist, Lisa 😉
LikeLike
I really liked The Bass Rock!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s one on my TBR. She’s a dual national so there will definitely be some pushback if she wins as there was when she took out the Miles Franklin a few years ago 🤷🏻♀️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Really? Because she’s not ONLY Australian? That sounds silly, if you ask me.
LikeLike
As a dual national myself, I can only agree.
LikeLiked by 1 person