A literary portrait of Helen Garner, a memoir of poetry and mental illness, and a novel about the erotic encounters of a robot feature in the books in contention for this year’s $50,000 Stella prize.
The Stella prize is open to books from Australian women who are “excellent, original and engaging”, with fiction, narrative nonfiction, memoir and journalism all qualifying for the award.
The Stella prize was first awarded to Carrie Tiffany in 2013 for her novel, Mateship with Birds. Last year’s winner was Heather Rose for her novel based on the artwork of Marina Abramović, The Museum of Modern Love.
In 2018, the prize is worth $50,000 to the winner, with $1,000 being awarded to every author on the longlist. The winner will be announced in Sydney on 12 April.