Okay, it’s been hasty and I accept that my predictions are usually the kiss of death, but…

• Serengotti by Eugen Bacon
• The Sitter by Angela O’Keeffe
• Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
• Wifedom by Anna Funder
• Infidelity and Other Affairs by Kathy Legge
• Graft by Maggie MacKellar
• Girl in a Pink Dress by Kylie Needham
• Ravenous Girls by Rebecca Burton
• I Had a Father in Karratha by Annette Trevitt
• One Day We’re All Going to Die by Elise Esther Hearst
• Thirst for Salt by Madelaine Lucas
• Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko

There’s a distinct lack of diversity in my predictions (in terms of all of the things that you expect on a Stella longlist) but maybe, just maybe I’ll beat my previous record of four picks.

And you know how when they run the lotto they have ‘supplementary numbers’? I’m doing that with books. My (very generous) supplementary list is:

• Sad Girl Novel by Pip Finkemeyer
• Something Bad is Going to Happen by Jessie Stephens
• Call Me Marlowe by Catherine de Saint Phalle
• Everyone and Everything by Nadine J. Cohen
• The Days Toppled Over by Vidya Madabushi
• Little Plum by Laura McPhee-Brown
• Salt River Road by Molly Schmidt
• Tell Her She’s Dreamin’ by Simone Amelia Jordan
• Dress Rehearsals by Madison Godfrey

The 2024 Stella Prize longlist will be announced on Monday night. The shortlist will be announced on April 4; and the winner on May 2.