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Tasmanian author Heather Rose has won the $50,000 Stella Prize for her novel The Museum of Modern Love.
The award, which was established in 2013, celebrates Australian women's writing.
The winning novel takes its inspiration from the 2010 artwork The Artist Is Present by Serbian performance artist Marina Abramović.
To complete the gruelling work, Abramović sat motionless at a table in the atrium of the Museum of Modern Art in New York for 75 days.
During opening hours, museum attendees were invited to sit opposite the artist silently and maintain her gaze.
Rose's novel centres on a group of characters, each at a crossroad in their life, who visit Abramović at the museum to take part in the performance.
Brenda Walker, chair of the 2017 Stella Prize judging panel, describes the novel as a remarkable achievement.
"It is rare to encounter a novel with such powerful characterisation, such a deep understanding of the consequences of personal and national history ... and such dazzling and subtle explorations of the importance of art in everyday life," she said.
Rose wrote the novel, her seventh book, in and around other work commitments and caring for her children.
She describes winning the award as one of the high points of her writing career.
"This recognition is a defining career moment, and it provides the enormous gift of breathing space to work on my next novel," she said.
"We have a long way to go in Australia in lauding successful women, but the Stella team, the sponsors, supporters, and the booksellers who so enthusiastically champion the prize, are all making a magnificent long-term contribution to this endeavour."
It took Rose 11 years to write the novel, and she says it was Abramović's art and persona that sustained her over the years.
"Marina's life is so curious and strange, and her art is, in some ways, so opaque, that it constantly evoked in me fascinating thoughts — at all hours of the day or night — about what might be driving her or what might have caused her to be the way that she is," she said.
"It was very addictive."
As part of her research, Rose also travelled to New York to sit opposite Abramović and take part in The Artist Is Present. She describes the experience as otherworldly and deeply moving.
"I sat with her four times," Rose said.
"It was a very spiritual experience, but also a very secular experience, because I'm in the middle of MOMA, and there are all these people around, and there is a silence. It was remarkable.
"Once you have been part of any of her performances, it is hard to deny there is something really beautiful at work."
Rose sought permission from the artist to include her in the novel, and Abramović gave Rose full license. It was a gift Rose struggled with at times.
"My fear of painting her in a way she might be unhappy with became compelling," she said.
"It's very tricky to have a live powerful Serbian woman at the heart of your novel.
"I really had to push myself ... she didn't place any restrictions on me, so then it was up to me."
The other shortlisted authors will receive $3,000 and a three-week writing residency.
Hear the full interview with Heather Rose on RN's Books and Arts from 10:00am on Wednesday.
Topics: novel, books-literature, arts-and-entertainment, awards-and-prizes, human-interest, performance-art, tas, australia, united-states