The longlist for this year’s Stella Prize has been announced. This $50,000 prize is awarded for the best work of literature, fiction or non-fiction, published in 2016 by an Australian woman.

The 12 longlisted books are:

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

From the judges’ report: ‘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.’

Previous winners of the Stella Prize include Carrie Tiffany for Mateship with Birds (2013), Clare Wright for The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka (2014), Emily Bitto for The Strays (2015) and Charlotte Wood for The Natural Way of Things (2016).

The shortlist will be announced on International Women’s Day, on Wednesday 8 March. The winner will be announced in Tuesday 18 April. Find out more about the Prize and this year’s longlisted books (including the full judges’ report) here.