In partnership with the State Library of Victoria, The Garret hosted a series of live events with leading Australian writers in 2018 and 2019. In our first event of 2019, we discussed

The Stella Shortlist with Jamie Marina Lau and Jenny Ackland (both shortlisted), as well as Chair of the Judging Panel Louise Swinn.

Jamie Marina Lau (劉劍冰) is a 22-year-old writer and musician from Melbourne. Her short works are published in Cordite, ROOKIE magazine and Voiceworks. Her debut novel Pink Mountain on Locust Island (2018) was shortlisted for The Stella Prize.

Jenny Ackland is a writer and teacher from Melbourne. Her short fiction has been published in literary magazines. Little Gods (2018) was shortlisted for The Stella Prize in 2019, and her debut novel The Secret Son was published in 2014.

Louise Swinn is a writer, editor, publisher and reviewer. Her work appears regularly in The Age, The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald. She is one of the founders of Sleepers Publishing, Small Press Network and The Stella Prize. Louise is Chair of Judges for the 2019 Stella Prize.

Related episodes:

• We interviewed the shortlist for the 2018 Miles Franklin Literary Award.
• Our previous live events in this series include interviews with Benjamin Law, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, as well as Clementine Ford, Hannah Kent and Alice Pung.

In 2019 The Garret is a finalist in the Australian Podcast Awards in the Literature, Arts and Music category.

You can read the transcript of this interview at thegarretpodcast.com.

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