Australian author Charlotte Wood’s seventh novel, Stone Yard Devotional has been longlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize for 2024.
Wood is the first Australian to be longlisted in eight years. The last longlisted title written by an Australian author was from JM Coetzee for his book, The Schooldays of Jesus.
The judges for this year’s prize, including novelists Yiyun Li and Sara Collins, described Wood’s book as one that “thrilled and chilled the judges.”
“It’s a book we can’t wait to put into the hands of readers,” the judges said in their comments.
Stone Yard Devotional traces the life of a mid-aged woman who settles into a monastery in rural NSW and slowly uncovers layers of repressed grief as she finds shelter in a convent. When it was released in Australia last year, it received glowing reviews. The Guardian called it a “a powerful, generous book.” The ABC described it as “a quiet, contemplative novel.”
Wood is one of Australia’s most celebrated writers. Over the past decades, she has picked up numerous awards for her books, including the NSW Premier’s Literary Award and the Stella Prize, which she won for her 2015 title, The Natural Way of Things. Her titles have frequently been finalists for awards including the Miles Franklin Award, Victorian Premier’s Prize for Fiction and the Australian Book Industry Awards.
Around the time she finished writing her latest novel, Wood was diagnosed with breast cancer. In a series of candid interviews last year, the 58-year old revealed that her two sisters were also diagnosed around the same time.
“We all know we’re going to die, but we mostly pretend that we don’t know that,” she told the Herald. “That’s just how we get through life. But there was an acquaintance with your own mortality, even though I wasn’t going to die from this, it’s a psychic thing.”
Her sixth novel, The Weekend, was adapted to theatre last year. She has frequently spoken about her love of cooking, writing a book in 2012, titled Love & Hunger, which chronicled her devotion to the practice.
2024 Booker Prize longlist
Eight women and five men were longlisted for this year’s Booker Prize. Dutch author Yael van der Wouden is one of three debut authors to have their works longlisted. van der Wouden is the first Dutch author to be longlisted for the Booker. Her book, The Safekeep, was described by The New York Times as “clever”, “indelible” and “a quietly remarkable book” which follows the story of a young woman in 1960s Amsterdam who becomes obsessed with her brother’s new girlfriend.
In their report, the judges praised the novel for its “remarkable inhabitation of obsession.”
“It navigates an emotional landscape of loss and return in an unforgettable way,” they said.
Rita Bullwinkel’s first novel, Headshot, is about a young women’s boxing tournament in Nevada. Judges described it as “a profound examination of identity, destiny and family dynamics, and of the transitory yet intense significance of human experience, lending the book a depth far beyond most sports fiction. An unflinching debut.”
Irish Canadian writer Colin Barrett has also been longlisted for his debut novel, Wild Horses, which follows the comic shenanigans of a pair of teenagers in a small Irish town. Judges called the book ”sharp, funny and bitingly bittersweet.”
Californian writer Tommy Orange becomes the first Native American to be nominated for the Booker Prize, with his second novel, Wandering Stars, which the judges described as “a stunning achievement, a literary tour de force that demands attention.”
American novelist Claire Messud has been longlisted for the second time, with her book, This Strange Eventful History. Messud was previously nominated for her 2006 novel, The Emperor’s Children.
In 2018, Rachel Kushner was nominated for The Mars Room, alongside Richard Powers for The Overstory. Both writers have been longlisted again; Kushner for Creation Lake and Powers for Playground. This is Power’s fourth nomination.
The other longlisted titles include Samantha Harvey’s Orbital, Sarah Perry’s Enlightenment, Anne Michaels’ Held and British-Libyan author Matar’s novel My Friends.
This year’s judging chair, artist Edmund de Waal said the “glorious” list comprises “a cohort of global voices, strong voices and new voices.”
“They are works of fiction that inhabit ideas by making us care deeply about people and their predicaments, their singularity in a world that can be indifferent or hostile.”
The shortlist will be announced on September 16 and the winner (who will receive £50,000) on November 12.
The last time an Australian won the Prize was in 2014, with Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which is currently being adapted to screen.
If Wood wins, she will become the first Australian female writer to win the Prize.