Evelyn Araluen has been named the winner of the 2022 Stella Prize for her debut collection of poetry, Dropbear.

Dropbear interrogates the complexities of colonial and personal history with an alternately playful, tender and mournful intertextual voice, deftly navigating the responsibilities that gather from sovereign country, the spectres of memory and the debris of settler-coloniality.

Chair of the judging panel, Melissa Lucashenko, said of the collection: ‘When you read Evelyn Araluen’s Dropbear, you’ll be taken on a wild ride. Like the namesake of its title, this collection is simultaneously comical and dangerous.’

‘For many readers, this will open up the exciting possibilities of blending poetry, memoir and theory, and it makes for a great book club choice. Araluen is a poet I’ll be keeping my eye on, and Dropbear a collection I’ll return to.’ – Claire Miller, Readings online

Read Claire’s full review

Araluen was shortlisted alongside five other authors: Eunice Andrada (Take Care), Anwen Crawford (No Document), Jennifer Down (Bodies of Light), Lee Lai (Stone Fruit), and Elfie Shiosaki (Homecoming).