In Conversation: 2024 Stella Prize Winner Alexis Wright

In Conversation: 2024 Stella Prize Winner Alexis Wright

Author: Sydney Writers' Festival June 27, 2024 Duration: 47:39

Praiseworthy is mighty in every conceivable way: mighty of scope, mighty of fury, mighty of craft, mighty of humour, mighty of language, mighty of heart.” – Stella Prize

Hear from the winner of this year’s Stella Prize, Alexis Wright, as she joins judging panel chair Beejay Silcox in conversation to discuss her creative inspirations, writing process and prize-winning work, Praiseworthy.

Celebrating original, excellent and engaging works by women and non-binary authors, the Stella Prize has helped elevate the careers of numerous Australian writers and has become one of the country’s most prestigious literary accolades.

Alexis Wright appeared at this event via video link. This episode was recorded live at the 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival.  

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel. 

Sydney Writers’ Festival podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms. 

After more? Follow Sydney Writers’ Festival on social media:
Instagram: @sydwritersfest
Facebook: @SydWritersFest
X (Twitter): @SydWritersFest
TikTok: @sydwritersfest

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


Step into the vibrant heart of Australia's largest celebration of literature, stories, and ideas with the Sydney Writers' Festival podcast. This audio companion captures the festival's dynamic spirit year-round, offering front-row access to conversations you might have missed. Each episode pulls you into the room for live, unscripted discussions with a remarkable lineup of international authors, sharp journalists, groundbreaking scientists, and provocative public intellectuals. The range is deliberately broad, reflecting the festival's own eclectic programming-you'll find deep dives into the craft of fiction alongside frank explorations of societal issues, business innovation, and cultural critique. It’s more than just author interviews; it’s where books meet the big ideas they inspire. The Sydney Writers' Festival podcast serves as a permanent record of those fleeting, brilliant moments of connection and insight, all curated by the festival team. For anyone curious about the world and the words we use to describe it, this series provides a regular dose of intellectual stimulation and narrative pleasure. Tune in to hear the arguments, the stories, and the questions that shape our contemporary conversation, all delivered with the authentic energy of the live event.
Author: Language: en-au Episodes: 100

Sydney Writers' Festival
Podcast Episodes
Catherine Chidgey: The Book of Guilt [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:55
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize winner Catherine Chidgey’s 9th novel, The Book of Guilt, sparked an international bidding war. With undertones of Shirley Jackson and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, the story’s teenage trip…
The Moriarty Sisters [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:23
This trio of Australian literary talents make writing a family affair. The Moriarty sisters, Jaclyn (the Kingdom and Empires series), Liane (Here One Moment, Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers) and Nicola (Every…
Family Secrets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:22
Every family has a secret but not every family has a memoirist to reveal it to the world. Writer and former restaurant reviewer Candice Chung’s memoir Chinese Parents Don’t Say I Love You is a tender account of reconnect…
Out of This World [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:37
Space, in all its awe-inspiring, mind-blowing expanse, is still the final frontier. Its greatness and grandness force us to reflect on our humanity, our existence and our place within the universe. In Samantha Harvey’s B…
Harriet Walter: What Shakespeare's Women Might Have Said [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:35
After a lifetime of bringing Shakespeare’s female characters to life on stage, multi-award-winning British actor Harriet Walter lends them her pen in She Speaks!. Shining a new light on classic stories, Harriet writes be…
The F Word [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:58
[Content warning: sexual assault] Feminism has a checkered past, but what can we expect from feminist ideas these days? CEO of independent news commentary platform Cheek Media Co. Hannah Ferguson (Taboo: Conversations we…
Rumaan Alam's American Dream [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:15
Rumaan Alam’s Entitlement probes complex racial and social dynamics much like his New York Times bestselling Leave the World Behind, which was adapted into a Netflix film starring Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali. In his…
Liane Moriarty and David Nicholls [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:50
International bestselling novelists Liane Moriarty and David Nicholls share the experience of seeing their powerful local stories turn into bingeable television series and films. Liane’s Big Little Lies was the first boo…
Turmoil and Tyranny [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:04
Wars, coups and economic and climate crises: each new headline can make it feel like the world is suddenly falling apart. But behind many dramatic world events are long-term historical patterns and the rise (and sometime…
Kate Grenville: Unsettled [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:15
After the success of her two best known works, The Secret River, adapted for stage and television, and Restless Dolly Maunder, shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, Festival favourite Kate Grenville is still gra…