The Stella Prize

Stella visited scenic and historic Echuca, in partnership with Campaspe Shire Council and Ripple Fest for Stella Day Out: Echuca 🌟

On May 23rd we heard from Debra Dank in conversation with Cecile Shanahan for an emotional talk, exploring language, legacy and storytelling.

In the second session Sofie Laguna was interviewed by Christy O'Brien, discussing writing and living characters, and building fictional worlds.

We took home books thanks to Collins Booksellers Echuca, and met many new faces, readers and writers at Echuca Library 📖☀️

This event was supported by Campaspe Shire Council’s 2026 Spark Arts and Cultural Grants Program, the Hugh Williamson Foundation, and Quest Apartment Hotels.

Thank you for ensuring regional audiences get ACCESS to Stellalisted writers at free events in their local libraries!

Photos taken by Jordan Townrow (riverine herald)

Stella visited scenic and historic Echuca, in partnership with Campaspe Shire Council and Ripple Fest for Stella Day Out: Echuca 🌟

On May 23rd we heard from in conversation with Cecile Shanahan for an emotional talk, exploring language, legacy and storytelling.

In the second session was interviewed by , discussing writing and living characters, and building fictional worlds.

We took home books thanks to , and met many new faces, readers and writers at Echuca Library 📖☀️

This event was supported by Campaspe Shire Council’s 2026 Spark Arts and Cultural Grants Program, the Hugh Williamson Foundation, and Quest Apartment Hotels .

Thank you for ensuring regional audiences get ACCESS to Stellalisted writers at free events in their local libraries!

You can help bring Stella into the classroom! 📚

We are close to fully funding the next round of Stella Schools sessions – but we are not there yet.

This is your opportunity to ensure that access to literature does not depend on privilege. A $10,000 gift sponsors an entire city session, $1,000 gift supports a student cohort, $500 gift provides Stella books to a school library.

⏱️ Don't wait: All gifts made before 30 June are tax deductible. If Stella has mattered to you — as a reader, as a supporter of women and non-binary writers, as someone who believes in Equal Writes — now is the time to act 🌟

You can give today via the link in our bio

It was simply the best! 🌟

This year Sydney Writers' Festival broke attendance records with over 100,000 attendees across eight days, with over 250 writers and thinkers, and more than 200 events.

2026 Stella Winner Lee Lai joined literary prize winners Siang Lu and Moreno Giovannoni, to share their insights for success and what comes after winning. Hosted by Beejay Silcox.

We were thrilled to partner with Sydney Writers' Festival and The State Library of New South Wales for this event – thanks for having us, and congratulations on the monumental effort programming the southern hemisphere’s biggest literary festival 💪

Photos taken by Megan McCracken

We want to give a heartfelt thankyou to the magnificent judging panel for the 2026 Stella Prize: Sophie Gee (Chair), Jaclyn Crupi, Benjamin Law, Gillian O'Shaughnessy and Ellen van Neerven 💛

Your dedication, insight and care reading and selecting the Longlist, Shortlist and Winner from over 200 entries was no small task.

From writers, readers, critics, booksellers, editors and literary programmers, thank you for bringing your diverse expertise, thoughtful perspective and shared love of storytelling to the Stella Prize this year!

This end of financial year, if you donate over $70 we will send you a Stella tote bag ✨ (Australia only)

We are raising funds to deliver Stella Schools in major capital cities in 2026. Every contribution helps ensure the next generation reads boldly and writes bravely.

All donations are tax-deductible. Please consider helping Stella’s long-term mission to achieve “Equal Writes” by inspiring our next generation of readers, thinkers and writers.

Find out more on our website via the link in our bio 💚

On May 18th we partnered with RMIT for the event - 'Lee Lai on Comics, Community and Cannon'.

2026 Stella Prize winner Lee Lai was interviewed by writer and comics scholar Ronnie Scott on how she became a comics-maker, sustains her practice, and how she wrote and drew the intimate world of her hit graphic novel Cannon 📖🖍️

Thank you to RMIT’s School of Media and Communication and Creative Australia for supporting the 2026 Stella Prize Winners tour.

🎨 Check out Folio Comics to learn more about the themes, explore the community, and discover the unique stories of Australia's comics creators.

What a joy it was for 2026 Stella Prize Winner Lee Lai (Cannon) to be interviewed by broadcaster Beverley Wang as part of the Prize Winning Tour and the Melbourne Art Book Fair 📚💚

Together they explored the cultural impact of prizes, examining the many intersections of literature and art, and Stella’s first time at the Fair. We were also at the Stallholder Fair with Avid Reader Bookshop selling Stella Prize titles at the NGV.

👉 Swipe through for some highlights from the talk and the book fair.

Photos taken by Eugene Hyland, Charles Lai, &
Tobias Titz.

Melbourne Art Book Fair is presented as part of Melbourne Design Week, an initiative of the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.