As delivered by Julie Koh

Mark Twain once declared that the sole function of a writer is to tell the truth. And yet many of the world’s noblest storytellers—the consciences of our nations—have sadly gone unrecognised in their own lifetimes. With this in mind, we have gathered here today to announce the winner of the inaugural Paradox Prize—an award recognising the best unrecognised book of the previous year. It is a pleasure to be here at the State Library of New South Wales on this fine December evening. Many thanks to Meanjin, which has generously sponsored this ceremony.

The Paradox Prize, and the prize money on offer, would not be possible without a generous bequest from the late, great Australian writer Arthur ruhtrA. As many of you are no doubt aware, ruhtrA founded the experimental literary group Kangaroulipo in 1970 after a falling out with Oulipo. Recently a new manifestation of this movement has come into being, in the form of the literary collective Kanganoulipo. I am a founding member of the new group, and we are honoured to be the administrators and judges of this award.