Bad Art Mother is shortlisted for the Stella Prize for Literature

Bad Art Mother by Edwina Preston was rejected 25 times before finding a publisher and is now shortlisted for the 2023 Stella Prize for Literature, with five books, including only this year’s novel

Preston confirmed that the rejection of her novel several times made her more sensitive, but she was a little protected by her agent, Jenny Darling, who was the one who sent the book, noting how important her support was because she believed in her book.

Preston’s novel Bad Art Mother, set in Melbourne, is about a poetess named Vida Gray and spans several decades from the 1950s onwards. The novel, written with aesthetics, explores the life of an artist mother who lives in conflict, as good mothers are expected to be unselfish, but artists are seen as selfish, so what does this mean for a mother with artistic ambitions?

character and letters

The story is told from two perspectives, one through the character of Vida and her letters to her sister, and the other through her son Owen, and it is inspired on the one hand by the life of the Australian poet Gwen Harwood, and on the other hand by the life of Sweeney Reed, son of artists Albert Tucker and Joy Hester. The poetess Harwood is known for being a riotous, cheerful, dynamic and full of life personality. Preston said she channeled a little of that into finding a voice for her character.

And she continued, “I wanted to show the difficulties faced by creative women, with or without children, with or without men, with or without a “difficult” mood, and this is an issue that is reflected in her story.

Vida’s story unfolds as her son Owen reflects on his childhood in suburban Melbourne and the vibrant inner-city bohemian art world, where his father was a restaurant owner. Meanwhile, the talented women in the scene, including Vida, are trying to gain recognition as artists from their inner circle and the wider world.

4 years

The book took four years to find a publisher. The writer said that she “expressed some of these things through the character of Vida, and when I was receiving all this rejection, I felt that life is just like art,” in the sense that one does not reach success quickly.

The author previously wrote a biography of artist Howard Arkley, and the novel “The Legacy of Ivory Hammer.” She also works for the Australian Education Union.

Her book was shortlisted from more than 200 submissions. The Stella Prize is awarded each year to one outstanding book, and the winner, who will be announced on April 27, will receive $60,000.