Interview: Jaclyn Crupi – 2026 Stella Prize Judge
An interview with editor, author and bookseller Jaclyn Crupi.
What role do you believe literary awards like the Stella Prize play in sparking conversations and shaping the literary canon?
Literary awards engage readers and the entire literary community in so many beautiful ways. As a bookseller, I see the impact longlists and shortlists have on the attention given to and the conversations we have about books, as well as sales of course. The Stella Prize shines a bright and sustained light on the work of Australian women and non-binary writers. It elevates the conversation and showcases the incredible breadth and depth of work by women and non-binary writers in Australia.
How will you prepare yourself to read a large volume of work fairly and thoroughly over the judging period?
I look forward to reading the work and engaging with it deeply and meaningfully. I approach each book on its own terms. I hope to be surprised and delighted. Reading is my greatest joy and I am in no way intimidated by the volume of books to be read, but know we judges will grapple with how to select a longlist, shortlist and winner from such high calibre work.
The Stella Prize shines a bright and sustained light on the work of Australian women and non-binary writers.
What excites you most about being part of a prize that elevates women’s and non-binary voices in literature?
It’s such an honour to be a judge for the Stella Prize. My entire working life is dedicated to getting books into the hands of readers and I look forward to doing that on a Stella Prize scale. I believe women and non-binary writers are creating some of the most dynamic and exciting fiction, non-fiction and poetry being published. Everything about the part I get to play in the Stella Prize for 2026 excites me.
What is a book by a woman or non-binary writer that you’d recommend to others?
A book? As in just one? Impossible. To highlight a few recent prize winners, I have loved talking about Michelle de Kretser’s Theory & Practice, Yael van der Wouden’s The Safekeep and Rachel Clarke’s The Story of a Heart with readers. The book I am pressing into reader’s hands most at the moment is Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li, a memoir about her sons who both died by suicide.
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