MEET AUSTRALIA’S EXCITING WRITERS
The Research Institute for Literature and Cultural History:
Liverpool John Moores University, the Smithdown Litfest and Stella Prize Australia
Present
Emily Maguire and Kate Mildenhall in conversation
Moderated by Simon Savidge
Introduced by Ian Skillicorn (Smithdown Litfest) and Fiona Sweet (Stella Prize)
Date: Friday 12 June, 2026
Time: 6pm arrival, for 6.30pm talk. Talk is 6.30-7.30pm.
Event details: The Athenaeum, 12-18 Church Alley, Liverpool L1 3DD
Please join Emily Maguire and Kate Mildenhall, two of the 168 Stella listed authors as they discuss literature, Australian stories and how important it is to win a literature prize. Moderated by England’s own bibliophile and broadcaster Simon Savidge in Liverpool’s iconic Athenaeum Library Reading Room.
TICKETS ARE FREE BUT MUST BE BOOKED IN ADVANCE – BOOK NOW!
Books contribute to our international culture – they shape what we value and how we see ourselves. Without women writers’ equal representation and recognition, our perspectives are limited, and our culture is diminished.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Emily Maguire is the author of seven novels, including An Isolated Incident, shortlisted for the Stella Prize and the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2017, and Love Objects, shortlisted for the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year and the Margaret & Colin Roderick Literary Award in 2022, as well as three non-fiction books. Her latest novel Rapture won the 2025 Queensland Literary Award for Fiction and the ARA Historical Novel Prize Reader’s Choice Award, and was longlisted for the Stella Prize and the Indie Book Award for Fiction and shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction and the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year. Emily was the 2018–2019 Writer-in-Residence at the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney and the 2023 HC Coombs Creative Arts Fellow at the Australian National University. She works as a teacher and as a writing mentor to young and emerging writers.
Kate Mildenhall is an author, writing teacher and podcaster. Her debut novel SKYLARKING was longlisted for Debut Fiction in The Indie Book Awards 2017 and the 2017 Voss Literary Award. Her second novel, THE MOTHER FAULT was longlisted for the 2021 ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year and shortlisted for the 2021 Aurealis Science Fiction Novel of the Year. Her third novel is THE HUMMINGBIRD EFFECT (2023), shortlisted for the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year and longlisted for the Stella Prize and the Indie Book Awards Fiction, 2024. Her latest novel is THE HIDING PLACE (2025). Her first picture book TO STIR WITH LOVE, illustrated by Jess Racklyeft was released in 2024 and was shortlisted for the 2025 Indie Book Awards and the 2025 ABIA Children’s Book of the Year and Notable in the CBCA Book Awards for Early Readers. She lives in Hurstbridge on Wurundjeri lands, with her partner and two children.
ABOUT STELLA
For 14 years, Stella has celebrated and elevated the voices of Australian women and non-binary writers to redress the imbalance in the stories we write and read. The annual Stella Prize has elevated over 168 women and non-binary writers’ voices with over $1.1M in prize money, increased book sales, and increased exposure through crafted PR, social media and events.
In addition to the Prize, Stella initiatives include the Stella Count, which counts the number of reviews of books written by men compared to women in major media publications – actively holding reviewing practices to account.
Stella also runs Stella Day Out, free accessible one-day festivals across the country. In 2026, we are rolling out a new nationwide education program, Stella Schools, as well as ongoing residency programs for writers.
OUR SPONSORS
The event has been sponsored by RILCH and the Smithdown Litfest. The Stella Prize has received support from Creative Australia, Australia’s official Arts council, to tour 2 Stella listed writers across the UK. This tour will feature Kate Mildenhall (2024 Longlister, The Hummingbird Effect) and Emily Maguire (2025 Longlister, Rapture).
Visit stella.org.au for more information.