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Novelist S.L. Lim has become the first non-binary writer to be in contention for one of Australia’s most important literary awards since changes were made to the eligibility requirements of the $50,000 Stella Prize for women’s writing.
But Lim, who made the longlist with second novel
Revenge: Murder in Three Parts, played down the significance of the inclusion which comes after the award changed entry guidelines to include women-identifying and non-binary writers in 2019.
Lim said they did not see their achievement as a milestone because the inclusion of non-binary and trans women in the prize was simply a necessary correction of a harmful prejudice. It was only noteworthy, they said, because the “standard of human being in the world is so incredibly low that not being a TERF [trans-exclusionary radical feminist] is something we need to feel gratitude for”.