I was desperate to be at the Stella Prize 2018 longlist announcement tonight but instead I was at a school information night, surreptitiously looking at Twitter for the news. It’s here, so now I can relax (and can start reading) –
01. The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar (Wild Dingo Press)
02. A Writing Life: Helen Garner and Her Work by Bernadette Brennan (Text Publishing)
03. Anaesthesia: The Gift of Oblivion and the Mystery of Consciousness by Kate Cole-Adams (Text Publishing)
04. Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman (Hachette Australia)
05. The Life to Come by Michelle de Kretser (Allen & Unwin)
06. This Water: Five Tales by Beverley Farmer (Giramondo)
07. The Green Bell: A Memoir of Love, Madness and Poetry by Paula Keogh (Affirm Press)
08. An Uncertain Grace by Krissy Kneen (Text Publishing)
09. The Choke by Sofie Laguna (Allen & Unwin)
10. Martin Sharp: His Life and Times by Joyce Morgan (Allen & Unwin)
11. The Fish Girl by Mirandi Riwoe (Seizure)
12. Tracker by Alexis Wright (Giramondo)
I predicted 4.5 (the half for the Helen Garner related title!). I’ve read two, own another one and will start the rest straight away. I am absolutely SPEWING that The Trauma Cleaner didn’t make the cut. I’ll probably be carrying on a fair bit about that over the next few months…
If you could pick only one on the list to recommend, which would it be? I don’t have time to take on the whole lot but would be very interested to dip in… 🙂
I’ve only read two (and both were quite ‘out there’) so if you were to dip your toe in, I’d go with either The Choke or A Life to Come (both authors write beautiful, engaging stories).
Thanks for these tips – will check them out.
I’m interested in Anaesthesia and The Green Bell. How interesting that this prize mixes fiction and nonfiction.
It is unusual to have a mix although the shortlist is usually weighted toward fiction.
I haven’t read Anaesthesia (I own it) but I have heard the author speak and it was fascinating.
Interestingly, there was another book about anaesthesia released last year, Counting Backwards by Henry Jay Przybylo (but U.S.-only, I think).
A mix is what the prize has founded itself on from the start, though, as Kate says, the short-list and winner has tended to favour fiction.
You suggest The choke and The life to come, both of which are on my TBR, but I’m rather wondering about Terra nullius. I will definitely read it but, given what’s on my plate over the next month, I might leave the others until the short-list comes out.
You could always start an Alternative Stella discussion (as generally happens with the Man Booker prize) – I’m sure you’re not the only one to feel at least one great book has been ignored. You don’t even have to argue that the ‘real’ list isn’t good – just that more than 12 great books by Aussie women were published last year 🙂
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