Today events around the country celebrate both IWD and Australian literature’s newest prize, The Stella Prize (named for Stella Miles Franklin, an Australian woman writer who bequeathed money for what became the Miles Franklin award, Australia’s most prestigious literary prize).
Established just over a year ago in order to redress the imbalance of literary prizes awarded overwhelmingly to men — in particular the Miles Franklin Prize — and inspired by the UK’s Orange Prize, the Stella hopes to launch by next year or 2014.
Today one of the women on the committee, the talented Ms Kirsten Tranter, wrote a brilliant piece for Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre.
Please come along to our events, including the one in my home town of BrizVegas tonight at Avid Reader
Happy IWD to all!
Just caught up with the Wheeler piece from Kirsten Tranter. I’m so shocked by that Naipaul quote. Almost as disturbing as the facts and figures. I think the term might be “tosser”!
Thanks for the pointer to it. Hope the BrizVegas do was heartening.
Yeah, awful isn’t it. But then again I’ve never been a Naipaul fan anyway — know lots of writers who think THE HOUSE OF MR BISWAS work of genius but I’ve never got it. Think he is pretty boring actually, bit like watching paint dry….I always know within a few sentences if I am reading VS Naipual…
Great event last night — not a sell out crowd as in Blue Mountains but a good crowd nontheless. Amazingly, not one single dissenter. Talk about group love….yeah, baby!