The 2021 Stella Prize shortlist is here!

The 2021 Stella Prize shortlist has just been announced, featuring books by Louise Milligan, Mirandi Riwoe, Laura Jean McKay and more.

The shortlist is comprised of a mix of fiction and non-fiction books, from debut novelists, Walkley Award-winning journalists, previous Miles Franklin winners and more. Chair of the 2021 Stella Prize judging panel, Zoya Patel, says of the shortlist:

‘The 2021 Stella Prize shortlist truly demonstrates the immensity of talent in Australian women and non-binary authors. This shortlist is varied, diverse, and reflects on urgent themes across the gamut of human experience. These books explore grief, loss, joy, hope, and anger. They feature strong and imposing women characters and authorial voices, and as diverse as they are in style, tone and topic, they are united by their expression of the Stella criteria of original, excellent and engaging.’

The Stella Prize celebrates brilliant literary work from Australian women and non-binary writers, with the winning author taking home $50,000 in prize money.

The winner will be announced on the 22nd of April — scroll down to see the 2021 Stella Prize shortlist!

Fathoms: The World in the Whale

by Rebecca Giggs

When Rebecca Giggs encountered a humpback whale stranded on her local beach in Australia, she began to wonder how the lives of whales might shed light on the condition of our seas. How do whales experience environmental change? Has our connection to these fabled animals been transformed by technology? What future awaits us, and them? And what does it mean to write about nature in the midst of an ecological crisis? Giggs blends natural history, philosophy, and science to explore these questions with clarity and hope.

Buy it here

Revenge: Murder in Three Parts

by S.L. Lim

A family favour their son over their daughter. Shan attends university before making his fortune in Australia while Yannie must find menial employment and care for her ageing parents. After her mother’s death, Yannie travels to Sydney to become enmeshed in her psychopathic brother’s new life, which she seeks to undermine from within …

Buy it here

The Animals in That Country

by Laura Jean McKay

Hard-drinking, foul-mouthed, and allergic to bullshit, Jean is not your usual grandma. She’s never been good at getting on with other humans, apart from her beloved granddaughter, Kimberly. Instead, she surrounds herself with animals, working as a guide in an outback wildlife park. And although Jean talks to all her charges, she has a particular soft spot for a young dingo called Sue. As disturbing news arrives of a pandemic sweeping the country, Jean realises this is no ordinary flu — its chief symptom is that its victims begin to understand the language of animals

Buy it here

Witness

by Louise Milligan

A masterful and deeply troubling expose, Witness is the culmination of almost five years’ work for award-winning investigative journalist Louise Milligan. Charting the experiences of those who have the courage to come forward and face their abusers in high-profile child abuse and sexual assault cases, Milligan was profoundly shocked by what she found.

Buy it here

Stone Sky Gold Mountain

by Mirandi Riwoe

Family circumstances force siblings Ying and Lai Yue to flee their home in China to seek their fortunes in Australia. Life on the gold fields is hard, and they soon abandon the diggings and head to nearby Maytown. Once there, Lai Yue finds a job as a carrier on an overland expedition, while Ying finds work in a local store and strikes up a friendship with Meriem, a young white woman with her own troubled past. When a serious crime is committed, suspicion falls on all those who are considered outsiders.

Buy it here

The Bass Rock

by Evie Wyld

Surging out of the sea, the Bass Rock has for centuries watched over the lives that pass under its shadow on the Scottish mainland. And across the centuries the fates of three women are linked: to this place, to each other.

Buy it here

Congratulations to all of the authors on the 2021 Stella Prize shortlist!

Find out more about the Stella Prize here.

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About the Contributor

Olivia Fricot

Olivia Fricot (she/her) is Booktopia's Senior Content Producer and editor of the Booktopian blog. She has too many plants and not enough bookshelves, and you can usually find her reading, baking, or talking to said plants. She is pro-Oxford comma.

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