Narrunga poet Natalie Harkin has been longlisted for the 2026 Stella Prize for her book Apron-Sorrow / Sovereign-Tea, which explores the history of Aboriginal women in domestic servitude in South Australia. The prize recognizes new work by Australian women and non-binary writers across genres. The longlist was announced on March 11, 2026, from 212 entries.
The Stella Prize, valued at $60,000, was established to promote Australian women and non-binary writers. Natalie Harkin's Apron-Sorrow / Sovereign-Tea, published by Wakefield Press in 2025, is part of her archival-poetics practice, which has been featured at institutions like the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Art Gallery of South Australia. The book documents the experiences of Aboriginal women compelled into domestic service in South Australia, drawing on family and community stories as well as state archives.
Harkin, an author, artist, and academic at Flinders University, described the longlisting as “completely out of left field and a real shock.” She emphasized the collaborative nature of the project: “I think most importantly, Apron-Sorrow / Sovereign-Tea was a collaborative project with Aboriginal women in my family and community to document their domestic labour memory stories, in the ways they wanted, with their voices, as well as the voices of Aboriginal women captured in the archives – and these collective voices represent the heartbeat of the book.” Harkin noted that the recognition honors the women involved and highlights ongoing issues like stolen wages and archival justice in South Australia.
The judging panel, consisting of Sophie Gee, Jaclyn Crupi, Benjamin Law, Gillian O’Shaughnessy, and Ellen van Neerven, praised the book as a “powerful reckoning with the state archives that illuminates and vividly remembers the harrowing experiences of Aboriginal women and girls in domestic servitude in South Australia.” They added, “The intergenerational effects on families and communities are deeply conveyed, and Harkin’s woven truth-telling is a potent response to whitewashed narratives and brutal systems of control and capture.”
The longlist includes 12 works: KONTRA by Eunice Andrada, The Rot by Evelyn Araluen, Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks, Ankami by Debra Dank, Fireweather by Miranda Darling, Apron-Sorrow / Sovereign-Tea by Natalie Harkin, Cannon by Lee Lai, Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy, Wait Here by Lucy Nelson, Find Me at the Jaffa Gate: An Encyclopaedia of a Palestinian family by Micaela Sahhar, 58 Facets: On violence and the law by Marika Sosnowski, and I Am Nannertgarrook by Tasma Walton. The winner will be announced on May 13, 2026. Last year's winner was Michelle de Kretser for Theory & Practice.
