This is the list I’ll be making my 2023 Stella Prize longlist predictions from. Sing out if there are errors (for example the book was not actually published in 2022) or if there are books I’ve missed – my compilation of this list involves absolutely no quality control.
The longlist will be announced on March 2, 2023.
FICTION
Hopeless Kingdom by Kgshak Akec
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
The Very Last of Vivian Walker by Megan Albany
The Eulogy by Jackie Bailey
The Furies by Mandy Beaumont
Sunbathing by Isobel Beech
Time and Tide in Sarajevo by Bronwyn Birdsall
The Silence of Water by Sharron Booth
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
The Islands by Emily Brugman
Daisy and Woolfe by Michelle Cahill
The Keepers by Al Campbell
Every Version of You by Grace Chan
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran
Enclave by Claire G. Coleman
The Competition by Katherine Collette
The Improbable Life of Ricky Bird by Diane Connell
Where the Light Gets In by Zoe Coyle
The Devastating Fever by Sophie Cunningham
The Glass House by Brooke Dunnell
One Punch by Julie Fison
Everything Feels Like the End of the World by Else Fitzgerald
Five Bush Weddings by Clare Fletcher
Wildflowers by Peggy Frew
Pomegranate and Fig by Zaheda Ghani
Marshmallow by Victoria Hannan
A Recipe for Family by Tori Haschka
Salt and Skin by Eliza Henry-Jones
Captain Starlight’s Apprentice by Kathryn Heyman
A Solitary Walk on the Moon by Hilde Hinton
The Stranger by Kathryn Hore
Hydra by Adriane Howell
Mr Carver’s Whale by Lyn Hughes
The Registrar by Neela Janakiramanan
Madukka the River Sepent by Julie Janson
The Making of Her by Bernadette Jiwa
Tiny Uncertain Miracles by Michelle Johnston
Salonika Burning by Gail Jones
Dinner with the Schnabels by Toni Jordan
Australiana by Yumna Kassab
The Lovers by Yumna Kassab
Till Death, or a Little Light Maiming, Do Us Part by Kathy Lette
All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien
The Coast by Eleanor Limprecht
Here For the Right Reasons by Jodi McAlister
The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane
Iris by Fiona Kelly McGregor
Red by Felicity McLean
Moon Sugar by Angela Meyer
Faithless by Alice Nelson
No Hard Feelings by Genevieve Novak
The Natural History of Love by Caroline Petit
The Family String by Denise Picton
A Place Near Eden by Nell Pierce
Bone Memories by Sally Piper
Her Fidelity by Katharine Ploock
Bad Art Mother by Edwina Preston
A History of Dreams by Jane Rawson
Seeing Other People by Diana Reid
The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding by Holly Ringland
Something Blue by Alex Sarkis
Blue Hour by Sarah Schmidt
28 Questions by Indyana Schneider
Willowman by Inga Simpson
A Great Hope by Jessica Stanley
The Burnished Sun by Mirandi Riwoe
Sixty-Seven Days by Yvonne Weldon
Cut by Susan White
Orphan Rock by Dominique Wilson
Bootstrap by Georgina Young
SHORT STORIES
Cautionary Tales for Excitable Girls by Anne Casey-Hardy
Women I Know by Katerina Gibson
If You’re Happy by Fiona Robertson
MEMOIR
Unknown: A Refugee’s Story by Akuch Kuol Anyieth
My Dream Time by Ash Barty
Big Love by Brooke Blurton
Desire by Jessie Cole
Swimming Home by Judy Cotton
Ten Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby
Rattled byEllis Gunn
Diagnosis Normal by Emma A. Jane
The Lonely Hunter by Aimee Lutkin
Desi Girl by Sarah Malik
Homesickness by Janine Mikosza
My Accidental Career by Brenda Niall
A Question of Age by Jacinta Parsons
Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here by Heather Rose
Childless by Sian Prior
Found, Wanting by Natasha Sholl
A Kind of Magic by Anna Spargo-Ryan
Scrubbed by Dr Nikki Stamp
The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner by Grace Tame
Tell Me Again by Amy Thunig
My Sweet Guillotine by Jayne Tuttle
Time of My Life by Myf Warhurst
The Jane Austen Remedy by Ruth Wilson
NONFICTION
Australia’s Great Depression by Joan Beaumont
Chasing Shadows by Kristy Campion
Making Australian History by Anna Clark
Humanity’s Moment by Joelle Gergis
Bedtime Story by Chloe Hooper
Sister Girl by Jackie Huggins
The Cost of Labour by Natalie Kon-yu
Masked Histories by Leah Lui-Chivizhe
Daughters of Durga by Manjula Datta OÇonnor
People Who Lunch by Sally Olds
My Tongue is My Own: A Life of Gwen Harwood by Ann-Marie Priest
The Idea of Australia by Julianne Schulz
The Bodyline Fix by Marion Stell
Independents’ Day by Brook Turner
Under Her Skin by Sue Williams
POETRY
And to Ecstasy by Marjon Mossammaparast
Decadence by Thuy On
That’s a pretty comprehensive list and makes me realise I didn’t read many newly published books by Aussie women last year. I did enjoy The Cane by Maryrose Cuskelly though … it’s crime fiction but can’t recall whether the Stella ever long- or short lists that genre 🤷🏻♀️
Mmm, me too. I’ve only read of 14 of the fiction list, though I do have some on the TBR.
Only 14, Lisa, that’s shameful 😆😆😆 I read just ONE… Moon Sugar by Angela Meyer… but I do have about 10 others on the TBR
Ha ha, , I’ve actually read 50 releases from 2022, but *hangs head in shame* 20 of those were by *gasp!* men.
WOW! I read 9 new releases by men… which surprises me…
Yes, but you read lots of other books, from other countries. Where would we be if you didn’t review all those Irish novels??
Well, I didn’t read many new Irish books last year either… but I did read a lot of backlist titles from around the world rather than a steady diet of new releases.
AH yes, 20 Books of Summer and all that. And more power to your pen, I say, because too often because there’s never enough time to cover everything, backlisted books simply disappear…
I’ve only read four from the fiction list and five from the memoir/nonfiction list but have another ten or so in the reading stack. I’ll ramp it up when the longlist is announced.
I’ve only read four from the fiction list and five from the memoir list – I feel that’s down on previous years for me as well. I wonder fpr me if it’s because the AWW reading challenge changed its format? That always spurred me on.
Crime is underrepresented in the Stella lists – not sure that it’s excluded but equally, it rarely shows up on the longlists.
Yes, I reckon the change in direction of AWW meant I wasn’t particularly motivated to read Australian women writers last year. I thought it was premature to say current women writers no longer needed to be supported in this way 🤷🏻♀️
Jane Rawson, A History of Dreams, Brio Books, Sydney, 2022.
Thanks Bill, I’ve added that one.
That is a long list of which I’ve read just one – the Fiona Macfarlane. Most of the others are complete unknowns to me which tells you something about British publishers!
Reminds of me of my Women’s Prize list! I’ve only read the Jessica Au (and part of Horse by Brooks), but a few of the memoirs are on my TBR thanks to you. I’m always interested to see what gets nominated for this, though usually I can’t read the shortlist or winner because the books aren’t available over here.
I’ve read 8 of the fiction titles, 1 memoir and 1 non-fiction. Sadly I’ve read no poetry collections this past year at all. Given that none of them (except for my DNF Wildflowers) were about domestic violence or traumatised women, I’m not expecting to see them on the Stella longlist.