First time Miles Franklin shortlistee, Siang Lu has won the prestigious book prize for his second novel Ghost Cities which is inventive, complex and satirical.

He will receive $60 000 and share a seat in Australian literary history alongside luminaries Kim Scott, Thea Astely and Michelle de Kretser (two-time winner and fellow 2025 shortlistee). The prize judges said Ghost Cities "redefines what Australian literature can be".

Ghost Cities is about narrator Xiang Lu who's been branded a #BadChinese and is drawn into the weird and duplicitous world of Baby Bao, a tyrannical director who's using one of China's modern "ghost cities" as the set for his latest film. There's also a second narrative interwoven throughout the book which is set in ancient China and has a mythological style.

Ghost Cities follows Lu's 2022 first novel, The Whitewash, which is also a satire about film and both books use humour and absurdity to confront questions of race and racism.

Listen to The Book Show's Miles Franklin shortlist episode to hear from all of the authors on the 2025 list.

Ep. 227 - On to GW23 with FML FPL Cup Incoming