The graphic novel that just made literary history (and why you should read it)

May 28, 2026 — 5:30am

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When Lee Lai won this year’s Stella Prize, she broke two barriers. One: she is the first non-binary person to win. Two: her book, Cannon, is the first graphic novel to claim the award.

Two reasons to celebrate. And perhaps particularly the recognition for graphic novels, which for so long have been shoved into a compartment reserved for children, teens and devotees of Japanese comics, superheroes, super monsters and space odysseys. Nothing wrong with that, but they have become so much more. Lai also became the first graphic novelist to be named as The Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist in the prize’s 30-year history.

Cannon takes us into very personal territory. As Stella chief executive Fiona Sweet says, it’s “a beautifully intimate story of forgiveness, gentleness, queerness and care”. Lai says it’s a book about love and rage, two emotions that have fuelled........

© Brisbane Times