Stella Prize winner heads to Byron for literary event

AWARD-winning author Michelle de Kretser will speak at a free, one-day literary event celebrating female writers in Byron Bay on Friday, October 17.

The Sri Lanka-born writer will discuss her latest novel, Theory & Practice, with Annie O’Rourke at the Stella Day Out event held at the Byron Community Centre.

De Kretser won the 2025 Stella Prize for the book, which follows the story of a young woman from Sri Lanka who arrives in Melbourne to research the novels of Virginia Woolf and encounters artists, activists and students.

She also won the Miles Franklin Award for The Life to Come in 2018 and Questions of Travel in 2013.

Other shortlisted Stella authors, Fiona Wright and Josephine Rowe, will also discuss their books and explore themes of the female experience and fragility on a panel moderated by Byron Bay Writers Festival director Jessica Alice.

Founded in 2012, Stella is a non-profit organisation dedicated to gender equality and cultural change in literature, primarily through the annual Stella Prize – a major literary award celebrating Australian women and non-binary writers. The organisation also offers a range of initiatives to champion Australian women writers and connect readers with their work.

Stella CEO and executive director Fiona Sweet said the event was one of more than a dozen Stella Day Out events held across capital cities and regional centres this year. This is the first time the event is taking place in Byron Bay, made possible with the support of a Creative Australia grant.

“Byron Bay is a cultural hub,” she said. “We knew we would have audiences there who would want to see Stella-listed authors.

“Michelle de Kretser is a living legend. She’s a deep thinker. Her books are literary fiction in the truest sense.

“I think it’s really important for people to get an understanding about how people write and why people write, and these talks really do get under the bonnet of writing.”

Tickets are available via Eventbrite.