Alexis Wright becomes the first to win the Stella Prize twice, with her ‘hyper real’ novel of Aboriginal sovereignty and survival
- Written by Julieanne Lamond, Associate Professor of English, Australian National University
Acclaimed Waanyi writer Alexis Wright has made Australian literary history by being the first author to win the Stella Prize twice. This time, it’s for Praiseworthy, her fourth novel – her first in more than a decade.
The Stella Prize was established out of an activist aim to redress the lack of women writers (and from 2019, non-binary writers too) on the shortlists of Australia’s major literary awards. It has often been idiosyncratic in its choices, steering clear of “big” books by established, “major” authors. Here, the Stella judging panel has awarded a book that is big in every sense – and a writer who is widely acclaimed.
When looking for words to describe this novel, critics have reached for “epic”, “monumental”, “mighty”. This isn’t just shorthand for “736 pages long” – Praiseworthy is a novel of substantial ambition and cultural, literary and political heft.
Beejay Silcox, chair of the judging panel, called it “mighty in every way” and “not only a great Australian novel – perhaps the great Australian novel”.
In awarding the prize to Wright and Praiseworthy, the judges are sticking with the core role of the literary prize in Australia’s ecosystem: to recognise achievement, especially in works that might not find easy success in the market.
Alexis Wright’s work has been much-awarded. Carpentaria (2006) – in many ways the precursor and companion to Praiseworthy in the sweep of its ambition and its focus on Gulf Country – won a slew of awards, including the nation’s most prestigious, the Miles Franklin.
In addition to the A$60,000 Stella Prize, Praiseworthy has won the Queensland Literary Awards Fiction Book Award, and has been shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award.
‘Like being in a mosh pit’
In this novel, the remote town of Praiseworthy is covered in an ancestral haze that carries the uncertain metaphorical weight of everything wrong with the town. The narrative follows the lives of four members of the Steel family.
