Miles Franklin awarded to UQP author Siang Lu

Lu took out the $60,000 award as a first-time shortlisted with his second novel, Ghost Cities.

“I am honoured beyond belief, and beyond words. I didn't dare dream of this,” Lu said.

“It didn't seem possible. My most heartfelt thanks to Perpetual as trustee for the Miles Franklin Literary Award estate, the Copyright Agency, my publisher Aviva Tuffield and the wonderful team at UQP, and my agent Brendan Fredericks.”

The Miles Franklin Literary Award was first handed out in 1957 following the death of My Brilliant Career author Stella Miles Franklin.

Miles Franklin bequeathed her estate to fund the award, which recognises a novel of the highest literary merit that presents “Australian life in any of its phases”.

UQP director Madonna Duffy said both of Lu’s novels had received widespread commendation.

“UQP selected Siang Lu as winner of the Queensland Literary Awards Glendower prize in 2021 and have proudly published his two novels, The Whitewash and Ghost Cities,” she said.

“To win the Miles Franklin Literary Award with his second novel is a stunning achievement and a testament to UQP’s ability to discover and nurture emerging Australian writers. It’s a great day for Queensland writing.”

‘Clever, satirical and cerebral’

Ms Tuffield described Ghost Cities as a triumph - clever, satirical and cerebral.

“This is a work of literary fiction where labyrinths abound, both physical and emotional,” she said.

“Ghost Cities is engaging, funny and mercurial; delivers on its ambition in spades; and rewards rereading.

“We are very proud to have published Siang Lu’s superb novel that has been a word-of-mouth success as well as with the literary judges.”

It is the fourth time UQP authors have won the award.

Critical acclaim

Ghost Cities follows multiple narratives, including one that tells the story of a young man named Xiang who is fired from his job as a translator with Sydney’s Chinese consulate when it is discovered he could not speak Chinese and had been using Google translate.

The judges described the novel as “a grand farce and a haunting meditation on diaspora”.

“Sitting within a tradition in Australian writing that explores failed expatriation and cultural fraud, Lu’s novel is also something strikingly new,” the panel said.

“In Ghost Cities, the Sino-Australian imaginary appears as a labyrinthine film-set, where it is never quite clear who is performing and who is directing.

“Shimmering with satire and wisdom, and with an absurdist bravura, Ghost Cities is a genuine landmark in Australian literature.”

This year’s judging panel included Chair and Mitchell Librarian of the State Library of NSW Richard Neville, literary scholar Associate Professor Jumana Bayeh, literary scholar and translator Dr Mridula Nath Chakraborty, literary scholar and author Professor Tony Hughes-d’Aeth and literary scholar and author Professor Hsu-Ming Teo.

Lu joins past UQP winners Peter Carey with Oscar and Lucinda in 1989 and again with Jack Maggs in 1998 and Melissa Lucashenko with Too Much Lip in 2019.