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The Advertiser
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Novel formula for interrupted tale claims Stella Prize
Michelle de Kretser is one of Australia's most celebrated writers - but the $60,000 Stella Prize has been a long time coming. The Sri Lankan-born Sydney author has been shortlisted three times, including for the very first Stella awarded in 2013, and has even judged the awards. Now her latest work of fiction, Theory & Practice, has finally won the $60,000 prize for Australian women and non-binary writers, announced Friday at the Sydney Writers Festival. "I thought this would be another shortlisting at best ... so it was just thrilling and incredible, and I've felt very lucky," she said ahead of the official announcement. "Theory & Practice is an exceptional novel of hyper realism in which Michelle de Kretser, an author at the height of her powers, interrogates the messiness of life found in the gap between theory and practice," said chair of the judging panel Astrid Edwards. Theory & Practice begins with the tale of an Australian geologist in Switzerland, but is interrupted by what appears to be the author, aged in her twenties - declaring that she no longer wants to write novels that read like novels. The life and thoughts of this young woman take over, including her complicated relationship with literary hero Virginia Woolf - the "Woolfmother". There are sections on the pioneering English author, including investigating her anti-Semitism, and de Kretser declares these parts are as accurate as she could make them. But the characters and events of Theory & Practice are entirely fictitious. Adding to the trickery, one edition of the book has a snap of de Kretser as a student on the front cover, taken in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda. "I wanted to write this novel that would make people think, 'Is this memoir? Is this all non-fiction?' But it's not, it's actually fiction that doesn't read like fiction," she said. Unlike her protagonist, de Kretser never studied Woolf at university, but reading about Woolf's late novel The Years, she found the English author had attempted to alternate story and essay. Woolf eventually ditched the idea, but for de Kretser it provided the scaffolding for an innovative structure. "The fiction, non-fiction thing didn't work for Virginia Woolf, I don't think it's going to work for me! So I will just try and do more of a mix," she said. Theory & Practice also investigates the pervasive tension between the work that artists leave behind, and their lives and political views. From Pablo Picasso to George Orwell, Paul Gauguin and Donald Friend, there's a long list of artists who would be cancelled - or jailed - if they were they alive today. So how to judge our literary heroes when we discover they have feet of clay? Openness is a start, according to de Kretser. "No one is perfect, but we acknowledge that people have done or said or written certain things that we find unacceptable, and that can be very hurtful," she said. At least the field of potential literary heroes has widened since Woolf's era - thanks in part to her own theory and practice, and thanks also to initiatives such as the Stella Prize. There were 180 entries for the 2025 Stella, and for the first time in the award's 13 years, the shortlist featured only women of colour. The Stella has made a difference to the book industry broadly, said de Kretser. "There has been much greater awareness of reviewing books by women, and greater awareness of gender issues on prize shortlists," she said. Michelle de Kretser is one of Australia's most celebrated writers - but the $60,000 Stella Prize has been a long time coming. The Sri Lankan-born Sydney author has been shortlisted three times, including for the very first Stella awarded in 2013, and has even judged the awards. Now her latest work of fiction, Theory & Practice, has finally won the $60,000 prize for Australian women and non-binary writers, announced Friday at the Sydney Writers Festival. "I thought this would be another shortlisting at best ... so it was just thrilling and incredible, and I've felt very lucky," she said ahead of the official announcement. "Theory & Practice is an exceptional novel of hyper realism in which Michelle de Kretser, an author at the height of her powers, interrogates the messiness of life found in the gap between theory and practice," said chair of the judging panel Astrid Edwards. Theory & Practice begins with the tale of an Australian geologist in Switzerland, but is interrupted by what appears to be the author, aged in her twenties - declaring that she no longer wants to write novels that read like novels. The life and thoughts of this young woman take over, including her complicated relationship with literary hero Virginia Woolf - the "Woolfmother". There are sections on the pioneering English author, including investigating her anti-Semitism, and de Kretser declares these parts are as accurate as she could make them. But the characters and events of Theory & Practice are entirely fictitious. Adding to the trickery, one edition of the book has a snap of de Kretser as a student on the front cover, taken in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda. "I wanted to write this novel that would make people think, 'Is this memoir? Is this all non-fiction?' But it's not, it's actually fiction that doesn't read like fiction," she said. Unlike her protagonist, de Kretser never studied Woolf at university, but reading about Woolf's late novel The Years, she found the English author had attempted to alternate story and essay. Woolf eventually ditched the idea, but for de Kretser it provided the scaffolding for an innovative structure. "The fiction, non-fiction thing didn't work for Virginia Woolf, I don't think it's going to work for me! So I will just try and do more of a mix," she said. Theory & Practice also investigates the pervasive tension between the work that artists leave behind, and their lives and political views. From Pablo Picasso to George Orwell, Paul Gauguin and Donald Friend, there's a long list of artists who would be cancelled - or jailed - if they were they alive today. So how to judge our literary heroes when we discover they have feet of clay? Openness is a start, according to de Kretser. "No one is perfect, but we acknowledge that people have done or said or written certain things that we find unacceptable, and that can be very hurtful," she said. At least the field of potential literary heroes has widened since Woolf's era - thanks in part to her own theory and practice, and thanks also to initiatives such as the Stella Prize. There were 180 entries for the 2025 Stella, and for the first time in the award's 13 years, the shortlist featured only women of colour. The Stella has made a difference to the book industry broadly, said de Kretser. "There has been much greater awareness of reviewing books by women, and greater awareness of gender issues on prize shortlists," she said. Michelle de Kretser is one of Australia's most celebrated writers - but the $60,000 Stella Prize has been a long time coming. The Sri Lankan-born Sydney author has been shortlisted three times, including for the very first Stella awarded in 2013, and has even judged the awards. Now her latest work of fiction, Theory & Practice, has finally won the $60,000 prize for Australian women and non-binary writers, announced Friday at the Sydney Writers Festival. "I thought this would be another shortlisting at best ... so it was just thrilling and incredible, and I've felt very lucky," she said ahead of the official announcement. "Theory & Practice is an exceptional novel of hyper realism in which Michelle de Kretser, an author at the height of her powers, interrogates the messiness of life found in the gap between theory and practice," said chair of the judging panel Astrid Edwards. Theory & Practice begins with the tale of an Australian geologist in Switzerland, but is interrupted by what appears to be the author, aged in her twenties - declaring that she no longer wants to write novels that read like novels. The life and thoughts of this young woman take over, including her complicated relationship with literary hero Virginia Woolf - the "Woolfmother". There are sections on the pioneering English author, including investigating her anti-Semitism, and de Kretser declares these parts are as accurate as she could make them. But the characters and events of Theory & Practice are entirely fictitious. Adding to the trickery, one edition of the book has a snap of de Kretser as a student on the front cover, taken in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda. "I wanted to write this novel that would make people think, 'Is this memoir? Is this all non-fiction?' But it's not, it's actually fiction that doesn't read like fiction," she said. Unlike her protagonist, de Kretser never studied Woolf at university, but reading about Woolf's late novel The Years, she found the English author had attempted to alternate story and essay. Woolf eventually ditched the idea, but for de Kretser it provided the scaffolding for an innovative structure. "The fiction, non-fiction thing didn't work for Virginia Woolf, I don't think it's going to work for me! So I will just try and do more of a mix," she said. Theory & Practice also investigates the pervasive tension between the work that artists leave behind, and their lives and political views. From Pablo Picasso to George Orwell, Paul Gauguin and Donald Friend, there's a long list of artists who would be cancelled - or jailed - if they were they alive today. So how to judge our literary heroes when we discover they have feet of clay? Openness is a start, according to de Kretser. "No one is perfect, but we acknowledge that people have done or said or written certain things that we find unacceptable, and that can be very hurtful," she said. At least the field of potential literary heroes has widened since Woolf's era - thanks in part to her own theory and practice, and thanks also to initiatives such as the Stella Prize. There were 180 entries for the 2025 Stella, and for the first time in the award's 13 years, the shortlist featured only women of colour. The Stella has made a difference to the book industry broadly, said de Kretser. "There has been much greater awareness of reviewing books by women, and greater awareness of gender issues on prize shortlists," she said. Michelle de Kretser is one of Australia's most celebrated writers - but the $60,000 Stella Prize has been a long time coming. The Sri Lankan-born Sydney author has been shortlisted three times, including for the very first Stella awarded in 2013, and has even judged the awards. Now her latest work of fiction, Theory & Practice, has finally won the $60,000 prize for Australian women and non-binary writers, announced Friday at the Sydney Writers Festival. "I thought this would be another shortlisting at best ... so it was just thrilling and incredible, and I've felt very lucky," she said ahead of the official announcement. "Theory & Practice is an exceptional novel of hyper realism in which Michelle de Kretser, an author at the height of her powers, interrogates the messiness of life found in the gap between theory and practice," said chair of the judging panel Astrid Edwards. Theory & Practice begins with the tale of an Australian geologist in Switzerland, but is interrupted by what appears to be the author, aged in her twenties - declaring that she no longer wants to write novels that read like novels. The life and thoughts of this young woman take over, including her complicated relationship with literary hero Virginia Woolf - the "Woolfmother". There are sections on the pioneering English author, including investigating her anti-Semitism, and de Kretser declares these parts are as accurate as she could make them. But the characters and events of Theory & Practice are entirely fictitious. Adding to the trickery, one edition of the book has a snap of de Kretser as a student on the front cover, taken in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda. "I wanted to write this novel that would make people think, 'Is this memoir? Is this all non-fiction?' But it's not, it's actually fiction that doesn't read like fiction," she said. Unlike her protagonist, de Kretser never studied Woolf at university, but reading about Woolf's late novel The Years, she found the English author had attempted to alternate story and essay. Woolf eventually ditched the idea, but for de Kretser it provided the scaffolding for an innovative structure. "The fiction, non-fiction thing didn't work for Virginia Woolf, I don't think it's going to work for me! So I will just try and do more of a mix," she said. Theory & Practice also investigates the pervasive tension between the work that artists leave behind, and their lives and political views. From Pablo Picasso to George Orwell, Paul Gauguin and Donald Friend, there's a long list of artists who would be cancelled - or jailed - if they were they alive today. So how to judge our literary heroes when we discover they have feet of clay? Openness is a start, according to de Kretser. "No one is perfect, but we acknowledge that people have done or said or written certain things that we find unacceptable, and that can be very hurtful," she said. At least the field of potential literary heroes has widened since Woolf's era - thanks in part to her own theory and practice, and thanks also to initiatives such as the Stella Prize. There were 180 entries for the 2025 Stella, and for the first time in the award's 13 years, the shortlist featured only women of colour. The Stella has made a difference to the book industry broadly, said de Kretser. "There has been much greater awareness of reviewing books by women, and greater awareness of gender issues on prize shortlists," she said.
West Australian
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Novel formula for interrupted tale claims Stella Prize
Michelle de Kretser is one of Australia's most celebrated writers - but the $60,000 Stella Prize has been a long time coming. The Sri Lankan-born Sydney author has been shortlisted three times, including for the very first Stella awarded in 2013, and has even judged the awards. Now her latest work of fiction, Theory & Practice, has finally won the $60,000 prize for Australian women and non-binary writers, announced Friday at the Sydney Writers Festival. "I thought this would be another shortlisting at best ... so it was just thrilling and incredible, and I've felt very lucky," she said ahead of the official announcement. "Theory & Practice is an exceptional novel of hyper realism in which Michelle de Kretser, an author at the height of her powers, interrogates the messiness of life found in the gap between theory and practice," said chair of the judging panel Astrid Edwards. Theory & Practice begins with the tale of an Australian geologist in Switzerland, but is interrupted by what appears to be the author, aged in her twenties - declaring that she no longer wants to write novels that read like novels. The life and thoughts of this young woman take over, including her complicated relationship with literary hero Virginia Woolf - the "Woolfmother". There are sections on the pioneering English author, including investigating her anti-Semitism, and de Kretser declares these parts are as accurate as she could make them. But the characters and events of Theory & Practice are entirely fictitious. Adding to the trickery, one edition of the book has a snap of de Kretser as a student on the front cover, taken in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda. "I wanted to write this novel that would make people think, 'Is this memoir? Is this all non-fiction?' But it's not, it's actually fiction that doesn't read like fiction," she said. Unlike her protagonist, de Kretser never studied Woolf at university, but reading about Woolf's late novel The Years, she found the English author had attempted to alternate story and essay. Woolf eventually ditched the idea, but for de Kretser it provided the scaffolding for an innovative structure. "The fiction, non-fiction thing didn't work for Virginia Woolf, I don't think it's going to work for me! So I will just try and do more of a mix," she said. Theory & Practice also investigates the pervasive tension between the work that artists leave behind, and their lives and political views. From Pablo Picasso to George Orwell, Paul Gauguin and Donald Friend, there's a long list of artists who would be cancelled - or jailed - if they were they alive today. So how to judge our literary heroes when we discover they have feet of clay? Openness is a start, according to de Kretser. "No one is perfect, but we acknowledge that people have done or said or written certain things that we find unacceptable, and that can be very hurtful," she said. At least the field of potential literary heroes has widened since Woolf's era - thanks in part to her own theory and practice, and thanks also to initiatives such as the Stella Prize. There were 180 entries for the 2025 Stella, and for the first time in the award's 13 years, the shortlist featured only women of colour. The Stella has made a difference to the book industry broadly, said de Kretser. "There has been much greater awareness of reviewing books by women, and greater awareness of gender issues on prize shortlists," she said.
Perth Now
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Novel formula for interrupted tale claims Stella Prize
Michelle de Kretser is one of Australia's most celebrated writers - but the $60,000 Stella Prize has been a long time coming. The Sri Lankan-born Sydney author has been shortlisted three times, including for the very first Stella awarded in 2013, and has even judged the awards. Now her latest work of fiction, Theory & Practice, has finally won the $60,000 prize for Australian women and non-binary writers, announced Friday at the Sydney Writers Festival. "I thought this would be another shortlisting at best ... so it was just thrilling and incredible, and I've felt very lucky," she said ahead of the official announcement. "Theory & Practice is an exceptional novel of hyper realism in which Michelle de Kretser, an author at the height of her powers, interrogates the messiness of life found in the gap between theory and practice," said chair of the judging panel Astrid Edwards. Theory & Practice begins with the tale of an Australian geologist in Switzerland, but is interrupted by what appears to be the author, aged in her twenties - declaring that she no longer wants to write novels that read like novels. The life and thoughts of this young woman take over, including her complicated relationship with literary hero Virginia Woolf - the "Woolfmother". There are sections on the pioneering English author, including investigating her anti-Semitism, and de Kretser declares these parts are as accurate as she could make them. But the characters and events of Theory & Practice are entirely fictitious. Adding to the trickery, one edition of the book has a snap of de Kretser as a student on the front cover, taken in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda. "I wanted to write this novel that would make people think, 'Is this memoir? Is this all non-fiction?' But it's not, it's actually fiction that doesn't read like fiction," she said. Unlike her protagonist, de Kretser never studied Woolf at university, but reading about Woolf's late novel The Years, she found the English author had attempted to alternate story and essay. Woolf eventually ditched the idea, but for de Kretser it provided the scaffolding for an innovative structure. "The fiction, non-fiction thing didn't work for Virginia Woolf, I don't think it's going to work for me! So I will just try and do more of a mix," she said. Theory & Practice also investigates the pervasive tension between the work that artists leave behind, and their lives and political views. From Pablo Picasso to George Orwell, Paul Gauguin and Donald Friend, there's a long list of artists who would be cancelled - or jailed - if they were they alive today. So how to judge our literary heroes when we discover they have feet of clay? Openness is a start, according to de Kretser. "No one is perfect, but we acknowledge that people have done or said or written certain things that we find unacceptable, and that can be very hurtful," she said. At least the field of potential literary heroes has widened since Woolf's era - thanks in part to her own theory and practice, and thanks also to initiatives such as the Stella Prize. There were 180 entries for the 2025 Stella, and for the first time in the award's 13 years, the shortlist featured only women of colour. The Stella has made a difference to the book industry broadly, said de Kretser. "There has been much greater awareness of reviewing books by women, and greater awareness of gender issues on prize shortlists," she said.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Germany hits back at Rubio's defense of far-right AfD party
Germany rebuked Secretary of State Marco Rubio after he slammed the country's intelligence agency for classifying the far-right political party Alternative for Germany a 'proven-right wing extremist organization.' 'We have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped,' Germany's foreign office wrote on X, in direct reply to Rubio. AfD, whose staunch supporters include Vice President JD Vance and billionaire Elon Musk, was already under surveillance for suspected extremism by Germany's intelligence services, which on Friday classified the party as a 'proven right-wing extremist organization.' Rubio, who on Friday became the acting national security adviser for President Donald Trump, pushed back on the designation, calling the move 'tyranny in disguise,' in a post on X Friday. 'Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition.' 'That's not democracy,' Rubio said. To that, Germany's foreign office replied, 'This is democracy.' The rise of AfD, which made huge gains in Germany's general elections in February and finished second, has been part of a surge of the far right in Europe, whose proponents have forged close ties with Trump's White House. AfD's co-leader, Alice Weidel, called her party's electoral gains a 'glorious success,' alarming large swaths of a country deeply aware of its Nazi past. Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, the country's intelligence agency, said the party 'aims to exclude certain population groups from equal participation in society.' AfD also does not consider German nationals with a history of migration from Muslim countries as equal to German people, the agency said in its Friday statement. Weidel's response to the designation aligned with Rubio's criticism, accusing the agency of advancing the ruling government's political interests. 'Since the AfD is the strongest party in polls now, they want to suppress the opposition & freedom of speech,' she said in a post on X. The German foreign office said the classification was a result of a "thorough & independent investigation to protect our Constitution & the rule of law." Under Weidel, AfD has moved from the fringes to a swift-rising movement winning its first regional elections and garnering support from the Trump administration. The party promotes a populist economy policy of large tax cuts and steep public spending, fosters strong anti-immigrant sentiments, and champions traditional family values, including opposing gay marriange though Weidel herself raises two sons with her Sri Lankan-born female partner, Sarah Bossard. Weidel has been able to harness a nationalist, anti-E.U sentiment along with hostilities against Muslims and foreigners, to build a stronghold for the party in the regions that once made up East Germany, where skepticism for NATO and Germany's support for Ukraine are among the strongest in the country. Vance, and Musk followed Rubio in his criticism, with the Vice President saying the AfD was the "most popular party in Germany and by far the most representative of East Germany." 'The West tore down the Berlin Wall together. And it has been rebuilt — not by the Soviets or the Russians, but by the German establishment,' Vance said in a post on X. Banning the AfD "would be an extreme attack on democracy,' Musk in a post on X said, calling the party "centrist" and repeating Vance's claims that it was Germany's "most popular party." AfD, and Weidel herself, have denied allegations of extremism, though the party's co-founder Alexander Gauland once dismissed Hitler's dictatorship as a 'speck of bird poop' and its top candidate, Maximilian Krah, said the SS, the Nazis' main paramilitary force, were 'not all criminals.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
03-05-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Germany hits back at Rubio's defense of far-right AfD party
Germany rebuked Secretary of State Marco Rubio after he slammed the country's intelligence agency for classifying the far-right political party Alternative for Germany a 'proven-right wing extremist organization.' 'We have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped,' Germany's foreign office wrote on X, in direct reply to Rubio. AfD, whose staunch supporters include Vice President JD Vance and billionaire Elon Musk, was already under surveillance for suspected extremism by Germany's intelligence services, which on Friday classified the party as a 'proven right-wing extremist organization.' Rubio, who on Friday became the acting national security adviser for President Donald Trump, pushed back on the designation, calling the move 'tyranny in disguise,' in a post on X Friday. 'Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition.' 'That's not democracy,' Rubio said. To that, Germany's foreign office replied, 'This is democracy.' The rise of AfD, which made huge gains in Germany's general elections in February and finished second, has been part of a surge of the far right in Europe, whose proponents have forged close ties with Trump's White House. AfD's co-leader, Alice Weidel, called her party's electoral gains a 'glorious success,' alarming large swaths of a country deeply aware of its Nazi past. Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, the country's intelligence agency, said the party 'aims to exclude certain population groups from equal participation in society.' AfD also does not consider German nationals with a history of migration from Muslim countries as equal to German people, the agency said in its Friday statement. Weidel's response to the designation aligned with Rubio's criticism, accusing the agency of advancing the ruling government's political interests. 'Since the AfD is the strongest party in polls now, they want to suppress the opposition & freedom of speech,' she said in a post on X. The German foreign office said the classification was a result of a "thorough & independent investigation to protect our Constitution & the rule of law." Under Weidel, AfD has moved from the fringes to a swift-rising movement winning its first regional elections and garnering support from the Trump administration. The party promotes a populist economy policy of large tax cuts and steep public spending, fosters strong anti-immigrant sentiments, and champions traditional family values, including opposing gay marriange though Weidel herself raises two sons with her Sri Lankan-born female partner, Sarah Bossard. Weidel has been able to harness a nationalist, anti-E.U sentiment along with hostilities against Muslims and foreigners, to build a stronghold for the party in the regions that once made up East Germany, where skepticism for NATO and Germany's support for Ukraine are among the strongest in the country. Vance, and Musk followed Rubio in his criticism, with the Vice President saying the AfD was the "most popular party in Germany and by far the most representative of East Germany." 'The West tore down the Berlin Wall together. And it has been rebuilt — not by the Soviets or the Russians, but by the German establishment,' Vance said in a post on X. Banning the AfD "would be an extreme attack on democracy,' Musk in a post on X said, calling the party "centrist" and repeating Vance's claims that it was Germany's "most popular party." AfD, and Weidel herself, have denied allegations of extremism, though the party's co-founder Alexander Gauland once dismissed Hitler's dictatorship as a 'speck of bird poop' and its top candidate, Maximilian Krah, said the SS, the Nazis' main paramilitary force, were 'not all criminals.'
