Congratulations to all the authors long listed for the 2025 Stella Prize announced today as part of Adelaide Writers Week.
Announcing the 2025 Stella Longlisted books
In alphabetical order by surname, the Stella Prize longlist is:
- Translations by Jumaana Abdu (fiction)
- Naag Mountain by Manisha Anjali (poetry)
- The Burrow by Melanie Cheng (fiction)
- Black Convicts by Santilla Chingaipe (non-fiction)
- Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser (fiction)
- A Language of Limbs by Dylin Hardcastle (fiction)
- Rapture by Emily Maguire (fiction)
- Black Witness by Amy McQuire (non-fiction)
- Cactus Pear For My Beloved by Samah Sabawi (non-fiction)
- Always Will Be by Mykaela Saunders (fiction)
- The Thinning by Inga Simpson (fiction)
- Peripathetic by Cher Tan (non-fiction)
Letter from the 2025 Stella Prize Chair, Astrid Edwards
“Literary prizes are subjective beasts, but I assure you, the works on this year’s longlist are remarkable. Fiction dominated the year, accounting for seven works on the longlist. Jumaana Abdu, Melanie Cheng, Michelle de Kretser, Dylin Hardcastle, Emily Maguire, Mykaela Saunders and Inga Simpson have each created entire worlds for readers to fall into. While different in form and function, each work fulfils its promise to the reader with exceptional craft. These are works to transport you elsewhere and reflect on not only our history but what yet may come.
The four non-fiction works on the list are so different they each warrant their own categories. Santilla Chingaipe’s archival history, Amy McQuire’s incisive journalism, Samah Sabawi’s family memoir and Cher Tan’s hyper-real essays demand much of their readers. But these works also deliver the most precious of gifts – a new understanding of the world we live in. There is one poetry collection on the longlist, and this feels unusual as while poetry only became eligible for The Stella in 2022, it has won two of the last three years. Manisha Anjali’s words simply could not be ignored. Literary judging is a solitary pursuit until the discussions begin. Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Debra Dank, Leah Jing McIntosh, Rick Morton and I read around 180 works, and their insight, wisdom and strength is reflected in this list. I am proud to have read, discussed and debated alongside them.
To the writers on the longlist, thank you. The time and skill required to weave together story is too often unregarded. Your words are beautiful, and they will stay with me.” – Astrid Edwards
This year’s judges were Astrid Edwards, Debra Dank, Leah Jing McIntosh, Yassmin Abdel-Magied and Rick Morton.You can read the judges’ reports on the individual books on the Stella website.
The shortlist will be announced on Tues 8 April at the Wheeler Centre. and the winner on FRi 23 May in Sydney (venue TBA)
Each announcement will be livestreamed on the Stella YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@TheStellaPrize/streams. Be sure to follow @thestellaprize on Instagram for all information and links!