The Latest Breaking News from Xiang Lu

Miles Franklin 2025: Siang Lu’s Ghost Cities is a haunting comedy about tyranny. Is it the funniest winner ever?

The Miles Franklin judges described Siang Lu’s Ghost Cities, winner of the 2025 award, as “a grand farce and a haunting meditation on diaspora”. To my mind, it is perhaps the funniest novel ever to have won the Miles Franklin. In the last decade, its closest competitor would be Melissa…

The Conversation · Jul 24, 2025

Bawdy, playful and intellectually ambitious: your guide to the 2025 Miles Franklin shortlist

All dull prizes shortlist books that are alike; every important prize recognises books that are remarkable in their own way. This is what makes them worth paying attention to, what makes following them fun – and this year’s Miles Franklin Award shortlist is no exception. All six books hail from…

The Conversation · Jul 23, 2025

Ghost Cities by Siang Lu review – a funny, fascinating critique of modern China

This novel is both biting satire and love story, unfolding in a surprising melange of wonder and intelligence

The Guardian - AU · May 30, 2024