'Tony Abbott’s decision last December to invite Richard Flanagan up to the dais to jointly receive the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for fiction alongside the judges’ choice of Steven Carroll made for great comedy. Les Murray, one of the over-ruled judges, and some other literary folk, didn’t find much humour in it. But it was Flanagan, who has refused prizes before, who capped the evening by giving away his half-share of the $80,000 prize money to support asylum seekers. There were laughs all round as Flanagan poked Abbott right in his admiring eye.' (Author's introduction)