Michelle de Kretser Wins 2025 Stella Prize for Theory & Practice

Australian author Michelle de Kretser has been awarded the 2025 Stella Prize for her bold and inventive novel Theory & Practice. The announcement made on Friday 23 May positions de Kretser as one of the most celebrated literary voices in Australia today.

In awarding the $60,000 prize, the Stella judges praised the novel as a work that “expands our notions of what a novel can be.” A layered and formally daring exploration of identity, narrative and authorship, The Theory of Practice is divided into two parts: one written in first-person, the other in third — subtly and cleverly revealing more about the narrator than they intend.

This is de Kretser’s second time winning the Stella Prize, having previously received the honour in 2018 for The Life to Come. She is also a two-time winner of the Miles Franklin Award and the overall Folio Prize.

The Stella Prize celebrates excellence in Australian literature by women and non-binary writers, and The Theory of Practice continues de Kretser’s tradition of quietly radical, form-pushing fiction that challenges convention and expectation.

FANZA congratulates Michelle de Kretser on this remarkable achievement. UK audiences can currently catch her on tour, including appearances at the Hay Festival and Southbank Centre.