I was at a school information night tonight, surreptitiously looking at Twitter for the announcement of the 2019 Stella Prize longlist.
And as the books were announced I had to focus on VCE assessment and ‘good study habits’ rather than sending congratulations messages to lovely authors (go Jenny, you little ripper!); hitting my library’s online reservation system; and marking books on Goodreads… I’m home now and I’m ready to start reading.
To the list:
Little Gods by Jenny Ackland
Man Out of Time by Stephanie Bishop
Bluebottle by Belinda Castles
The Bridge by Enza Gandolfo
The Arsonist by Chloe Hooper
The Death of Noah Glass by Gail Jones
Pink Mountain on Locust Island by Jamie Marina Lau
The Erratics by Vicki Laveau-Harvie
Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee
Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko
Axiomatic by Maria Tumarkin
The World Was Whole by Fiona Wright
My first impressions – seems there is more fiction than non-fiction this year; lots of stories focused on family ‘mysteries’; no doorstoppers (phew); a few surprising omissions.
I predicted four. I’ve read two (Hooper and Lee), own another one (Ackland) and have placed a bunch of library reservations.
The shortlist will be announced on March 8 and the winner on April 9, 2019.