Iris by Fiona Kelly McGregor longlisted for 2023 Stella Prize
The 2023 Stella Prize longlist has been announced, and we’re excited to see Iris by Fiona Kelly McGregor nominated!
A voice for gender equality and cultural change in Australian literature, here’s what the judges had to say about Fiona’s work:
Set in Depression-era slums in Sydney, this work of historical fiction explores class, marginalisation, and Queer identity at a time when social mores were oppressive and violence was rife. The narrative imagines the life of the real (albeit obscure) Iris Webber and her contemporaries. McGregor does not shy away from depicting brutality, but ensures sex work and crimes of poverty are explored with nuance and depicted sensitively.
The evocation of voice and character development is exceptional. Capturing vernacular dialect on the page is notoriously difficult, and McGregor’s Iris is a bold example of literary craft that demonstrates a profound historical understanding of place and time. The experience of Iris – a woman defiant in the face of injustice, and fierce, despite hardship – in a time of economic pain, social uncertainty, and looming war, remains starkly relevant today.
To find out more information, you can also read Fiona’s interview about her nomination here.
About the book
Who is Iris Webber?
A thief, a fighter, a wife, a lover.
A scammer, a schemer, a friend.
A musician, a worker, a big-hearted fool.
A woman who has prevailed against the toughest gangsters of the day, defying police time and again, yet is now trapped in a prison cell.
Guilty or innocent?
Rollicking through the underbelly of 1930s sly-grog Sydney, Iris is a dazzling literary achievement from one of Australia’s finest writers. Based on actual events and set in an era of cataclysmic change, here is a fierce, fascinating tale of a woman who couldn’t be held back.