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Stella > The Stella Prize > 2017

The 2017 Stella Prize

The winner of the 2017 Stella Prize is Heather Rose for her novel The Museum of Modern Love. Rose receives $50,000 in prize money thanks to the generous support of National Australia Bank.

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2017 Winner

Heather Rose

The Museum of Modern Love

Fiction · Allen & Unwin

“The Museum of Modern Love is an exceptional novel that reimagines Marina Abramovic’s 2010 performance of ‘The Artist is Present’, in which she silently encountered individual members of a larger audience of viewers while seated in the atrium of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.”

– 2017 Stella Prize Judges

About the author

The Museum of Modern Love is Heather Rose’s seventh book. Her work spans adult literary fiction, children’s literature, fantasy/sci-fi and crime. She was the inaugural Writer in Residence at the Museum of Old and New Art (MoNA) in Hobart from 2012 to 2013 where she did much of the research for The Museum of Modern Love. Heather is currently studying Fine Arts at UTAS.


2017 Stella Prize Shortlist

Georgia Blain
Between a Wolf and a Dog
Maxine Beneba Clarke
The Hate Race
Catherine de Saint Phalle
Poum and Alexandre
Emily Maguire
An Isolated Incident
Heather Rose
The Museum of Modern Love
Cory Taylor
Dying: A Memoir

News
April 2017

Heather Rose’s Stella Prize acceptance speech

Read the full transcript of Heather Rose’s acceptance speech upon winning the 2017 Stella Prize.

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News
April 2017

Dr Susan Carland’s 2017 Stella Prize Award Night speech

“She rights the wrong by refusing to acquiesce to that wilful ignoring. That ignoring that says women’s voices aren’t representative, aren’t as creative, are too niche, too mumsy, too female.”

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Interviews
April 2017

The Stella Interview: Heather Rose on The Museum of Modern Love

In this special Stella interview, Heather Rose discusses the murky line between fact and fiction, the power of art, and what it feels like when a character in your book gives you feedback.

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2017 Stella Prize Longlist

Julia Baird
Victoria: The Queen
Georgia Blain
Between a Wolf and a Dog
Maxine Beneba Clarke
The Hate Race
Catherine de Saint Phalle
Poum and Alexandre
Madeline Gleeson
Offshore
Julia Leigh
Avalanche
Emily Maguire
An Isolated Incident
Fiona McFarlane
The High Places
Elspeth Muir
Wasted
Heather Rose
The Museum of Modern Love
Cory Taylor
Dying: A Memoir
Sonya Voumard
The Media and the Massacre


The 2017 Stella Prize longlist recognises exceptional writing in a year of especially fine literature by Australian women. This year’s longlist is notable for the strength and diversity of investigative, biographical and autobiographical work, as well as for highly accomplished fiction and stories. All of the books are topical and many of them address urgent national issues with particular relevance to women, at a time when women are fighting to be politically seen and heard, and to secure their positions in the public sphere.

The writing on this longlist takes a strong stand against issues such as racism, offshore incarceration, violence against women and alcohol abuse. Two of the books on the longlist explore the dying process, a couple of others address the role of the media in reporting tragedy, while the question of the ownership of a woman’s story is at the forefront of another. The role of art in enlarging and acknowledging the inner life of individuals is directly addressed by one novel and exemplified in others. Painstaking research is a characteristic of many of the books on the 2017 Stella Prize longlist, whose writers have conducted extensive investigations into subjects that are not necessarily widely understood. These are important contributions to the national conversation, and help us to move towards a more inclusive and empathetic Australian society. In fiction and in nonfiction, the titles on the 2017 longlist emphasise the value of the individual, and many demonstrate the capacity of personal disclosure to illuminate broader social concerns.

The 12 titles on this longlist are outstanding examples of the literature that the Stella Prize values: original, excellent and engaging. Women’s writing is flourishing in this country, and the Stella Prize, now in its fifth year, is dedicated to the recognition and celebration of the growth and continuity of Australian women’s literature.


2017 Judges

Delia Falconer
Diana Johnston
Benjamin Law
Sandra Phillips
Brenda Walker (chair)

This program is proudly supported by:


    Stella Prize Award Partner


    Program Partners



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ARBN: 657 317 283


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