Charlotte Wood wins the 2016 Stella Prize
The winner of this year’s Stella Prize is Charlotte Wood for her darkly gripping novel, The Natural Way of Things.
The Natural Way of Things is a starkly imaginative exploration of contemporary misogyny and corporate control. 10 women are imprisoned on an isolated property in the middle of Australia, and forced into hard labour in scorching heat. While initially given no explanation for their imprisonment, it soon becomes clear that each has been involved in a public sex scandal with a powerful man.
Chair of the Stella Prize judging panel, Brenda Walker, says:
“The Natural Way of Things is a novel of – and for – our times, explosive yet written with artful, incisive coolness. It parodies, with steely seriousness, the state of being visible and female in contemporary Western society. With an unflinching eye and audacious imagination, Charlotte Wood carries us from a nightmare of helplessness and despair to a fantasy of revenge and reckoning. The Natural Way of Things is a riveting and necessary act of critique.”
As the winner, Wood will receive $50,000 in prize money. In addition, the five shortlisted authors (Elizabeth Harrower, Peggy Frew, Tegan Bennett Daylight, Fiona Wright and Mireille Juchau) will receive prize money of $2000, proudly supported by the Ivy H Thomas and Arthur A Thomas Trust managed by Equity Trustees, as well as a writing retreat supported by the Trawalla Foundation.
You can find out more about the Stella Prize here and read our review of the book here.
