Lee Lai Wins the 2026 Stella Prize

Cannon has won the 2026 Stella Prize , a literary award for Australian women and nonbinary authors worth $60,000. It's the first time a graphic novel has won the prize in its 14-year history.

In Cannon, Lee Lai’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed and award-winning Stone Fruit, the full palette of a nervous breakdown is just a part of what is on offer. Lai’s sharp sense of humour and sensitive eye produce a story that explores the intimacy of queer friendship and the weight of family responsibility, and breaks open the question of what we owe both to each other and to ourselves.

The shortlisted titles are:

• The Rot by Evelyn Araluen (poetry)

• Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks (memoir)

• Fireweather by Miranda Darling (fiction)

• 58 Facets by Marika Sosnowski (non-fiction)

• I Am Nannertgarrook by Tasma Walton (fiction)