This March, in the lead up to International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating two new non-fiction books from international guests Lindy West (America) and Thordis Elva (Iceland). Both women are powerful voices of contemporary feminism; both shaped by past experiences and travelling a unique road to share their very personal stories.
West’s memoir is full of a wild, joyous vulgarity and ranges from body images and rape threats to puberty and her love for her husband
One ordinary summer’s afternoon American writer Lindy West received a message from her dead dad. Paul West had recently passed away from prostate cancer. But there he was, sitting at the piano, in a Twitter profile with the username “PawWestDonezo”. The bio read: “Embarrassed father of an idiot. Other two kids are fine, though.” The location? “Dirt hole in Seattle.”
In 1996, Thordis Elva shared a teenage romance with Tom Stranger, an exchange student from Australia. After a school dance, Tom raped Thordis, after which they parted ways for many years. In this extraordinary talk, Elva and Stranger move through a years-long chronology of shame and silence, and invite us to discuss the omnipresent global issue of sexual violence in a new, honest way.
On Wednesday 8 March, International Women’s Day, the Stella Prize is delighted to announce the six extraordinary books by Australian women on the 2017 shortlist. Between a Wolf and a Dog by Georgia BlainThe Hate Race by Maxine Beneba Clarke Poum and Alexandre by Catherine de Saint PhalleAn Isolated Incident by Emily MaguireThe Museum of Modern Love by Heather RoseDying: A…
