Siang Lu Wins 2025 Miles Franklin for Ghost Cities

Siang Lu Wins 2025 Miles Franklin Award for Ghost Citie

Siang Lu's Daring Novel Recognized as a New Voice in Australian Literature
Auhtor Siang Lu, has been chosen for the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award, for his book Ghost Cities. The book was loved by judges who called it a daring and inventive novel which draws upon multiple genres and cultures to tell a compelling story about identity, belonging, and creativity.

Ghost Cities tells the story of a Chinese-Australian translator who, after getting caught out for not actually speaking Mandarin, finds himself in a crazily bizarre movie shoot in a nearly deserted city in China. The book as well features a second narrative taking place in ancient China, creating a rich, unpointed exploration of culture and myth.

Judges said the novel was “a grand farce and a deeply haunting meditation on diaspora,” and a mix of satire romance and social commentary. They said it was, “strikingly new,” and a real win for diverse voices in Australian storytelling.

Lu's win highlights an emerging avenue in Australian literature that is rewarding writers who tell stories that are true to their own stories, and for that can also represent a different, bigger, and global sense of Australian identity. Lu's novel broke away from more traditional literary forms and engaged with identity by way of humor, fantasy, and emotion with a contemporary understanding of belonging.

 

 

 

 

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Persistence and personal journey behind a success

Lu did not have a straightforward route to being recognised as a writer. He indicated that Ghost Cities was rejected more than 200 times before the novel was published. During this time he was working a full time job in the tech sector, raising a family and writing. He even taped his rejection letters to his bedroom window as a way to motivate him to keep going!

Lu himself in his acceptance speech said that he never thought he would win 'such a prestigious' award - but that it made a difference to him that fellow writers did, it meant something. Lu's story resonated with readers and the judging panel and in this example illustrated how persistence and believing in and trusting your voice can lead to great success.

In his acceptance speech, Lu remarked that he could never have imagined winning such a prestigious award, and that the award itself bears personal weight. His story resonated with readers and judges alike, demonstrating that perseverance and belief in one’s own voice can take you far. 

The combination of elements from the author’s lived experience and imagined narrative is also evidence of a shift away from what readers and critics expect. This novel does not fit a traditional mode, but rather exposes readers to the different aspects of experience, cultures, languages and types of telling.  

Lu sits alongside a formidable list of past Miles Franklin winners, such as Tim Winton, Michelle de Kretser, and Alexis Wright. His win can be seen as a signal, of the changing face of Australian literature: one that is more inclusive, creative, and willing to experiment and meet people where they are at. 

Ghost Cities is better than a novel- it is a statement about the significance of diverse storytelling in contemporary Australia. It is expected that its unique voice and layers of story will initiate further discussion and inspire more authors from underrepresented groups to share their experiences.

 

 

 

 

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The “Ghost City” That Sparked a Novel

Siang Lu provided some background on what inspired Ghost Cities, and the subject is compelling. He and his wife visited an abandoned theme park near Beijing that felt like a ghost town. They walked through empty and half-built attractions and felt the strange beauty of a place that felt like it was somehow remembered, but never lived in. This real world ruin became the emotional backbone of Lu's novel - he'll share photos from the trip soon for a limited time on his "Silly Bookstagram" account - that personal angle adds a nice emotional layer to the story.

Lu isn’t just a novelist—he’s a social-media groundbreaker. His playful Instagram persona, “Silly Bookstagram,” includes using Photoshop to mix and match famous book covers with his name. And while not a game, his post-modern irony entices other authors and readers to his launch events. When Lu claimed his Miles Franklin award in Sydney, a number of other authors said that the outreach through "Silly Bookstagram" was the reason they attended. It's a type of community marketing that most writers would envy—and it's not being reported anywhere else.

Early Film Deal Conversations

Here’s a scoop: hours after the Miles Franklin announcement two Aussie indie filmmakers reached out to Lu with interest in adapting Ghost Cities into a hybrid film using both live-action and animation. One is pitching a “cinematic fable-meets-contemporary satire” adaptation; the other wants a “streaming special” visualizing China’s deserted megacities. Although not sold yet, insiders say Lu is considering offers and hopes to commence discussions on development before the end of this year.

Image Source: The Guardian