The 2025 Stella Prize Shortlist

The 2025 shortlist for the Stella Prize has been announced this week, and it covers history, science nature, current affairs, memoir and much more across the six shortlisted books. Something notable about this year is that each book is by a woman of colour, in the 13^th year of the award. I have only managed to read one book – in between reviewing and everything else I do; it was simply the one that crossed my path amongst the many other great books that came out in 2024.  There are four non-fiction books and two fiction books this year. It is always interesting to see what the breakdown of this is, and where the books come from, as they don’t always come from big publishers, and may not have garnered as much attention as other books and authors. But this shortlist means they will, allowing more people to discover these wonderful books.

A brief statement from the Chair of Judges for this year is below:

“This year’s shortlist is consequential for Australian literary history, as it is the first time the Stella Shortlist features only women of colour. Now in its 13th year, these works showcase an incredible command of craft and understanding of our uncertain time. These works are riveting, and they stood out to the judging panel for their integrity, compassion and fearlessness.”
– Astrid Edwards, Chair of Judges 2025.

We are proud to announce the shortlisted books for 2025:

• Translations by Jumaana Abdu (fiction)
• The Burrow by Melanie Cheng (fiction)
• Black Convicts by Santilla Chingaipe (non-fiction)
• Theory & Practice by Michelle de Kretser (fiction)
• Black Witness by Amy McQuire (non-fiction)
• Cactus Pear For My Beloved by Samah Sabawi (non-fiction)

The winner will be announced on the 23rd of May 2025.