2024 Stella Prize shortlist videos
Stella presents Feast, performed by Nicolette Minster.
Wordsmith and actor Nicolette Minster delivers a poignant read of a scene from Feast.
About the book: Alison is an actress who no longer acts, Patrick a musician past his prime. The couple live an isolated old manor house in Scotland, until Patrick’s teenage daughter, Neve, flees Australia to spend a year abroad with her doting, if unreliable, father, and the stepmother she barely knows. On the weekend of Neve’s eighteenth birthday, her father insists on a special feast to mark the occasion. Despite Neve’s objections, her mother, Shannon, arrives in Scotland to join the celebrations. What none of them know is that Shannon has a hidden agenda that has the potential to shatter the delicate façade of the loving, if dysfunctional, family. Read more …
About the actor: Nicolette is a comedian, actor and writer, who despite wishing it otherwise is best known as the woman from the viral Mystery of the Washing Basket sketch video. She was a cast member and writer on four seasons of Kinne Tonight and for over five years on Sammy J. She holds a BA Acting from Federation University and a BA Actor Musicianship from Rose Bruford College, London. She writes for TV and film mainly. Her recent broadcast writing credits include Rhys & Joel’s Family Christmas, Thank God You’re Here, The Cheap Seats, Have You Been Paying Attention?, Larry the Wonderpup, The Legend of Burnout Barry and Erinsborough High. She is an AACTA award nominated producer for The Future of Everything and was selected for the 2023 ABC Fresh Blood initiative alongside LateNite’s Nicholas Colla and writer/performer Vidya Rajan.
Filmed and edited by Samantha Meuleman
Produced by Fiona Sweet and Claudia Nankervis
Make up: Annie Rose Foretti for for MECCA M-POWER
“I knew I wanted to write, but I didn’t really believe that I’d be allowed to, in the same way that I wasn’t allowed to play footy, even though I loved it and stole every moment of game time that I could. The more accessible authors are, the more accessible the idea of writing becomes.”
What do you think or hope the benefits of the Stella Prize Schools Program, and the recommended texts will be for students?
Fair and proportional representation among books that reflect Australia’s truly diverse society – on every level, whether that be culture, religion, sexuality, ability, any perceived ‘difference’. Not just because it’s right and fair, or because I believe in equality, but because anything less than this robs the next generation of a rich and full understanding of the world. And because as someone much smarter than me said, every child should be able to find themselves in stories.
What Australian authors should young readers get to know?
Kate Grenville, Rebecca Lim, Melissa Keil, Sally Rippin, Stella (Miles) Franklin, Tony Birch… That’s a good start.
What advice would you give to young aspiring writers?
Read everything you can get your hands on, and write every day.
Explore the latest from Stella
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Meet the 2024 Stella Prize winner, Alexis Wright, at any of these events, hosted by the Stella Prize, and in partnership with …
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