Cannon by Lee Lai, becomes first graphic novel to win Stellar Prize

In winning the 2026 Stellar Prize, Montréal, Canada, based Australian cartoonist Lee Lai becomes the first graphic novelist to claim the Australian literary award, with Cannon. Lai’s debut graphic novel, Stone Fruit, was shortlisted for the 2022 award, which went on to be won by Evelyn Araluen, with her poetry collection Dropbear. Dropbear was the first work of poetry to take out the Stellar, and Araluen was in the running for the 2026 award, with The Rot, her follow up collection of poetry. Wins for Araluen’s Dropbear, and Lai’s Cannon, in the Stellar, are both firsts, and represent a fascinating intertwining of Australian literary award history.