The shortlist for the inaugural Stella Prize has been announced!

Chair of the judges, Kerryn Goldsworthy, says of the shortlist:

The shortlist features a wide variety of subject matter and genre: the list contains a collection of short stories and a verse novel; it includes fantasy, speculative fiction, two historical novels and one that has been described as Australian Gothic. There are stories set in the past, the present and the future; there are stories set in both urban and rural Australia as well as in other countries and in imagined places.

Here is the shortlist in full:

• The Burial by Courtney Collins (Allen & Unwin)

• Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser (Allen & Unwin)

• The Sunlit Zone by Lisa Jacobson (5 Islands Press)

• Like a House on Fire by Cate Kennedy (Scribe Publications)

• Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (Allen & Unwin)

• Mateship with Birds by Carrie Tiffany (Pan Macmillan/Picador)

The winner of $50,000 Stella Prize will be announced in April. You can view