Latest news with #SiangLu
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Without writers and thinkers, Sydney risks becoming a cultural ghost city
It has been a big week for the nation's publishers, with the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award, won by Siang Lu for his novel Ghost Cities, bringing attention to the best Australian fiction published over the past year. But, as Linda Morris reports in today's Sun-Herald, key industry voices have warned that professional writing will become an unviable occupation within 20 years, without a steady flow of paid speaking gigs to supplement measly earnings from book sales. Australia's writers earn an average of $18,500 a year. In an attempt to increase the stream of such gigs, the Sydney Writers' Festival will move to deliver events year-round, becoming a resident company of the State Library. The move – supported by a $1.5 million state government investment – comes ahead of NSW's new writing and literature strategy, a welcome Australian first. Because, while Arts Minister John Graham is right to say that Sydney is 'not a shallow city', it is also an ever more expensive city – one which creatives are leaving in droves for cheaper Australian capitals or better opportunities abroad. As Australia's publishers grapple with how to foster a new generation of local writers, a similar crisis is being experienced by the nation's music industry, where artists, earning from streams a fraction of what they did from record sales, have been left to invest thousands of dollars touring music to try to escape the international algorithms that now determine airplay. Loading The Australian Recording Industry Association will change the way it calculates its charts from September, restricting the list to songs released in the past two years, amid concerns about older tunes sitting on the chart for years after it included streaming plays and not just record sales in its count. This has been a particular issue for ARIA's Australian music charts. Last week, the top song on the Australian Artist Singles chart was Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House, released in 1986. AC/DC's Thunderstruck, released in 1990, was in second, having spent 181 consecutive weeks in the top 20. And that isn't even that long a stint: Vance Joy's 2013 Hottest 100 winner Riptide has been in the top 20 for 363 consecutive weeks, last week at number 4.
The Age
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
Without writers and thinkers, Sydney risks becoming a cultural ghost city
It has been a big week for the nation's publishers, with the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award, won by Siang Lu for his novel Ghost Cities, bringing attention to the best Australian fiction published over the past year. But, as Linda Morris reports in today's Sun-Herald, key industry voices have warned that professional writing will become an unviable occupation within 20 years, without a steady flow of paid speaking gigs to supplement measly earnings from book sales. Australia's writers earn an average of $18,500 a year. In an attempt to increase the stream of such gigs, the Sydney Writers' Festival will move to deliver events year-round, becoming a resident company of the State Library. The move – supported by a $1.5 million state government investment – comes ahead of NSW's new writing and literature strategy, a welcome Australian first. Because, while Arts Minister John Graham is right to say that Sydney is 'not a shallow city', it is also an ever more expensive city – one which creatives are leaving in droves for cheaper Australian capitals or better opportunities abroad. As Australia's publishers grapple with how to foster a new generation of local writers, a similar crisis is being experienced by the nation's music industry, where artists, earning from streams a fraction of what they did from record sales, have been left to invest thousands of dollars touring music to try to escape the international algorithms that now determine airplay. Loading The Australian Recording Industry Association will change the way it calculates its charts from September, restricting the list to songs released in the past two years, amid concerns about older tunes sitting on the chart for years after it included streaming plays and not just record sales in its count. This has been a particular issue for ARIA's Australian music charts. Last week, the top song on the Australian Artist Singles chart was Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House, released in 1986. AC/DC's Thunderstruck, released in 1990, was in second, having spent 181 consecutive weeks in the top 20. And that isn't even that long a stint: Vance Joy's 2013 Hottest 100 winner Riptide has been in the top 20 for 363 consecutive weeks, last week at number 4.
SBS Australia
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- SBS Australia
Siang Lu just won Australia's most prestigious literary prize — more than 200 rejections later
Brisbane writer Siang Lu has won the Miles Franklin Literary Award for his novel Ghost Cities, after more than 200 publishers rejected the manuscript. The 39-year-old author said he was shocked to find out he had won the $60,000 prize after being shortlisted for the first time. "I just sat down and actually lost all feeling in my hands and legs, and I lost my voice," he said. "It was one of the first times in my life where I actually had to ask someone with complete seriousness, to just tell me that I wasn't dreaming." Australia's most prestigious literary award was announced at a ceremony in Sydney on Thursday night, at which Lu revealed that he finished the manuscript for Ghost Cities a decade ago in 2015, but it was rejected more than 200 times by publishers in Australia and overseas. Siang Lu accepted the $60,000 prize at an event in Sydney on Thursday night. Source: AAP / Jane Dempster "I used to print my rejections and Blu-Tack them on the glass pane between my office, and my bedroom. My youngest child, Madeleine, had just been born — she is nine now — and she would nap on that big bed while I worked and kept an eye on her," he said in his acceptance speech. "The rejections kept piling up. Eventually, they grew so numerous that I could no longer see through the glass, into the bedroom where my daughter slept." A 'landmark' in Australian literature Having finally been published by University of Queensland Press, the winning book has been described by critics as both intellectually ambitious and zany, and by the Miles Franklin judges as a "genuine landmark" in Australian literature. "Siang Lu's Ghost Cities is at once 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 judges said. "Shimmering with satire and wisdom, and with an absurdist bravura, Ghost Cities is a genuine landmark in Australian literature." Lu says his win changes things dramatically — not only financially, but in terms of recognition for the quality of his work. Ghost Cities was inspired by megacities built in China during the nation's real estate boom, many of which have been left uninhabited and falling into ruin. The manuscript for Ghost Cities was completed in 2015, but rejected more than 200 times by publishers in Australia and overseas. Source: AAP / Jane Dempster It weaves together multiple stories — including that of a young man who is fired from his job as a translator at the Chinese consulate in Sydney, when it is discovered he is monolingual and has been relying on Google Translate. There's also a chess automaton with a secret, and an ancient emperor who creates a thousand replicas of himself. Since his novel hit the shelves in 2024, Lu has found what he describes as a perverse joy in chatting to his readers, as they try to guess what Ghost Cities is actually saying. The answer is less complex than readers might imagine: "It is trying to be funny," he promises. Siang Lu's debut novel was 2022's The Whitewash, while his online tracking project The Beige Index — described as "the Bechdel Test for race" in the film industry — has found an audience worldwide. The 2025 shortlist was dominated by writers of colour, including veteran Brian Castro, who has made the shortlist four times, and two-time winner Michelle de Kretser. The six authors shortlisted for the Miles Franklin also receive $5,000 from the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund.
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Brisbane author Siang Lu wins 2025 Miles Franklin literary award
First time author Siang Lu has won the prestigious $60,000 Miles Franklin literary award for his novel, Ghost Cities, described as 'a genuine landmark in Australian literature'. It was rejected more than 200 times, both in Australia and overseas, and stayed in a drawer unpublished for 10 years before Lu's first novel The Whitewash was published. Ghost Cities is about a young Chinese-Australian man who is fired from his translator job at the Chinese consulate after it is discovered he cannot speak Mandarin. The deception goes viral on Chinese social media, with Xiang dubbed #BadChinese. 'Siang Lu's Ghost Cities is at once a grand farce and a haunting meditation on diaspora,' the judges said. 'Sitting within a tradition in Australian writing that explores failed expatriation and cultural fraud, Lu's novel is also something strikingly new. 'Shimmering with satire and wisdom, and with an absurdist bravura, Ghost Cities is a genuine landmark in Australian literature.' On winning the award, Lu, 39, said he was 'honoured beyond belief, and beyond words'. 'I didn't dare dream of this. It didn't seem possible.' Lu, who is of Chinese-Malaysian descent, moved with his family moved from Malaysia to Brisbane in the 1990s when he was four. The 2025 judging panel comprised Richard Neville, Jumana Bayeh, Dr Mridula Nath Chakraborty, Prof Tony Hughes-d'Aeth, and author, Prof Hsu-Ming Teo. The Miles Franklin literary award was established in the will of My Brilliant Career author, Stella Miles Franklin, for the 'advancement, improvement and betterment of Australian literature'. Perpetual serves as Trustee for the Award.
Perth Now
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Chinese-Australian author wins major award
First time author Siang Lu has won the prestigious $60,000 Miles Franklin literary award for his novel, Ghost Cities, described as 'a genuine landmark in Australian literature'. It was rejected more than 200 times, both in Australia and overseas, and stayed in a drawer unpublished for 10 years before Lu's first novel The Whitewash was published. Ghost Cities is about a young Chinese-Australian man who is fired from his translator job at the Chinese consulate after it is discovered he cannot speak Mandarin. The deception goes viral on Chinese social media, with Xiang dubbed #BadChinese. 'Siang Lu's Ghost Cities is at once a grand farce and a haunting meditation on diaspora,' the judges said. Siang Lu has won the 2025 Miles Franklin Award. Supplied Credit: Supplied Ghost Cities was unpublished for 10 years after 200 rejections. Credit: Supplied 'Sitting within a tradition in Australian writing that explores failed expatriation and cultural fraud, Lu's novel is also something strikingly new. 'Shimmering with satire and wisdom, and with an absurdist bravura, Ghost Cities is a genuine landmark in Australian literature.' On winning the award, Lu, 39, said he was 'honoured beyond belief, and beyond words'. 'I didn't dare dream of this. It didn't seem possible.' Lu, who is of Chinese-Malaysian descent, moved with his family moved from Malaysia to Brisbane in the 1990s when he was four. The 2025 judging panel comprised Richard Neville, Jumana Bayeh, Dr Mridula Nath Chakraborty, Prof Tony Hughes-d'Aeth, and author, Prof Hsu-Ming Teo. The Miles Franklin literary award was established in the will of My Brilliant Career author, Stella Miles Franklin, for the 'advancement, improvement and betterment of Australian literature'. Perpetual serves as Trustee for the Award.
