The shortlisted Stella authors: (clockwise from top left to right) Elfie Shiosaki, Evelyn Araluen, Anwen Crawford, Jennifer Down, Lee Lai and Eunice Andrada.
Stella Prize/The Conversation
For the first time, only one novel has been shortlisted, amid works of poetry, essays and graphic fiction. They tackle big issues - racism, grief, sexual abuse - but are leavened by joy.
Allegory of motherhood - artist unknown.
Wikimedia commons
Part historical novel, part speculative fiction, A History of Dreams examines the themes of inequality and authoritarianism from the perspective of a coven of witchy young women.
Funding for writing and publishing is not just low: it’s also declining. Ben Eltham looks at a grim federal budget for literature, in the context of ongoing neglect for written culture in Australia.
Orestes Pursued by the Furies - William Adolphe Bouguereau (1862)
Public domain
In an extract from his book, Australia in 50 Plays, Julian Meyrick reflects on an under-appreciated contribution to Australian theatre by the poet Douglas Stewart.
The intimate connections between life and art are explored in the deeply satisfying conclusion to a quartet of novels about one of the greatest poets of the 20th century.
Paramatta Road: Omar Sakr’s debut novel gives voice to Arab-Australian Western Sydney.
Raph07/Flickr
The lives of queer Arab-Australian boys and men are vividly inhabited in award-winning poet Omar Sakr’s darkly comic debut novel, set in Western Sydney.
Stuart Robert, who as acting Education Minister vetoed six ARC approved research projects.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Stuart Macintyre was the prime target of the conservatives in the history wars. Our greatest historian of politics and society since the late 19th century, he was assiduous, dedicated and prolific.
Author Hannah Kent’s new novel is a beautifully crafted look at the 19th century Old Lutherans who migrated from Prussia to the colony of South Australia.
Actor Nicole Kidman and Big Little Lies’ Australian author Liane Moriarty at the Emmys in 2017.
Peter Mitchell/AAP
A new survey of Australia’s international book rights sales finds children’s books are most popular with overseas buyers but adult fiction is catching up.
Gilmore Girls brought university life, including the student newspaper. to our screens.
Dorothy Parker Drank Here ProductionsHofflund/PoloneWarner Bros. Television
Anthony Sharwood’s The Brumby Wars looks at the tension between environmental damage and sentimental attachment to Australia’s brumbies — and how Banjo Paterson’s poem feeds the myth.