The winner of this year’s Stella Prize is Tracker by Alexis Wright.

Tracker is a collective memoir of the charismatic Aboriginal leader, political thinker and entrepreneur Tracker Tilmouth, who died in Darwin in 2015 at the age of 62. The book is as much a testament to the powerful role played by storytelling in contemporary Aboriginal life as it is to the legacy of an extraordinary man.

Fiona Stager, Chair of the Stella Prize judging panel, says: ‘It is one man’s story told by many voices, almost operatic in scale. With a tight narrative structure, compelling real-life characters, the book sings with insight and Tracker’s characteristic humour. Wright has crafted an epic that is a truly rewarding read.’

You can read an extract from this book on the Stella Prize website.

Wright is a member of the Waanyi nation of the southern highlands of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and is currently the Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature at the University of Melbourne.

Wright will be in conversation about her prize-winning book at Montsalvat on Saturday 28 April. Tickets are $20 and you can find more details, including booking information, here.

As the 2018 winner of the Stella Prize, Wright will receive $50,000 in prize money.

In addition, the five other shortlisted authors (Shokoofeh Azar, Claire G. Coleman, Michelle de Kretser, Krissy Kneen and Mirandi Riwoe) will receive $3000, thanks to the support of the Ivy H Thomas and Arthur A Thomas Trust managed by Equity Trustees, as well as a three-week writing retreat supported by the Trawalla Foundation.

The Stella Prize is presented for the best work of fiction or nonfiction by an Australian woman published in the previous calendar year. You can find out more about the prize here.