ANZ LitLovers LitBlog

With thanks to Terri King from Pitch Projects for a press release that’s quick and easy to share with you, comes the 2021 Stella Prize shortlist.

In alphabetical order of author surname, the 2021 Stella Prize shortlist is: 

• Fathoms: the world in the whale by Rebecca Giggs (Scribe Publications), see my report: Perth Festival: Rebecca Gibbs and Fathoms, The World in the Whale
• Revenge: Murder in Three Parts by S.L. Lim (Transit Lounge) see my review
• The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay (Scribe Publications), see Kim’s review at Reading Matters
• Witness by Louise Milligan (Hachette Australia)
• Stone Sky Gold Mountain by Mirandi Riwoe (University of Queensland Press), on my TBR, see Brona’s review at This Reading Life
• The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld (Penguin Random House), see Jennifer’s review at Tasmanian Bibliophile at Large

I really like the way the press release included this homage to the industry that brings us books, and the literary community which supports it:

The 2021 Stella Prize shortlist showcases the extraordinary ingenuity and expertise on offer within the Australian book industry. Last year, against all odds, publishers continued to release books as the pandemic changed the ways in which we all live and work. Writers, too, adapted to their newfound circumstances and often publicised the books they’d spent years writing, in digital rather than physical spaces. Booksellers, librarians, and the literary community at large did all they could to ensure these books still found their readers, and it’s thanks to this monumental effort that the Stella Prize Judging Panel have been able to present such a compelling and hopeful shortlist.

I’ll scrounge around as usual for reviews of the books I haven’t read, and will update this when I’ve found some. Done.  I can’t yet find anyone whose reviews I trust who’s read Witness.

Update: The winner will be announced on April 22.