For its 10th anniversary, the Stella Prize has been won by young First Nations poet Evelyn Araluen — in the first year that poetry has been eligible.
"Last year, I was completely f***ing broke," she says.
For now, she is working on her debut novel, about an Aboriginal person navigating Australian literary history and culture. She's juggling that with two academic jobs in Melbourne, and the editor role at Overland.In her acceptance speech, Araluen explained that her experience working a number of jobs is all too common for artists.
"If you hold legislative influence, if you work in government or in philanthropy or in a position of other influence I beg you to think of the responsibility you bear to your community, and the influence you might lead. The arts are also our country, and I beg you to care for it."The $60,000 sum brings the Stella on par with the Miles Franklin Award, with whom the prize shares a namesake.
It's not up to individual artists to reject the prize money, she says. At the same time, she is critical of making superficial tweaks — like changing the name – instead of addressing structural issues. She says: "If they turned around and they said, 'Listen, we could change the name of the Stella and it would cost X amount of money' — and it would probably be a large sum – 'or we could spend that money running workshops in marginalised communities supporting writers,' I would 100 per cent pick the latter.
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