This week the short list for The Stella Prize was announced.  For those who aren’t aware of it, The Stella Prize celebrates the writing of Australian women. The prize came into being after concerns were raised in the Australian literary scene in 2011 regarding the disproportionate number of reviews of books in major Australian newspapers of books by men versus books written by women and the underrepresentation of women as winners of major literary prizes over the years including the Miles Franklin Prize for Literature. 

The winner of The Stella Prize receives a $50,000 cash prize and, for the first time in 2014, the other five shortlisted authors will also receive prize money of $2000.  The Stella Prize is open to works of both fiction and nonfiction.

This year’s shortlist comprises three works of fiction and three of nonfiction: six great books by Australian women.