Hong Kong International Literary Festival: Lunch Talk with Siang Lu

Have lunch and converse with fellow writers and the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Winner, Siang Lu.

Speaker: Siang Lu

Moderator: Karen Koh

Venue: Museum Cafe 8

Address: Rooftop Hong Kong Maritime Museum Pier 8, Man Kwong St, Central

Language: English

Description:
Winner of the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Ghost Cities draws inspiration from China’s vast, uninhabited megacities to weave a dazzling set of interconnected narratives. At its heart is Xiang, a young man abruptly fired from his job at Sydney’s Chinese Consulate when it’s discovered he speaks no Chinese and has been secretly relying on Google Translate. Exiled to a ghost city, his fate begins to mirror, and collide with, other surreal storylines: an ancient Emperor creating a thousand doubles of himself; a lustful mountain gaining sentience; a chess-playing automaton guarding a deadly truth; and a world where every book is destroyed, only to be painstakingly recreated in the name of love, art, and obsession.

About the Speaker:

Siang Lu

Siang Lu is the Miles Franklin-winning author of Ghost Cities and ABIA-winning author of The Whitewash. He is the co-creator of The Beige Index and the creator of #sillybookstagram. Ghost Cities was shortlisted for eight additional awards, including the ALS Gold Medal, The Voss Literary Prize and The Age Book of the Year. In 2026, Ghost Cities will be published with Simon & Schuster’s Summit UK and US imprints, and in 24 territories in translation. Siang is based in Brisbane, Australia, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

About HKILF

The Hong Kong International Literary Festival (HKILF) inspires the joy of reading by bringing the world’s writers and stories to Hong Kong’s diverse communities. A dynamic year-round programme and an annual festival offer dialogue, entertainment and perspective, while the Young Readers Festival (YRF) motivates students to engage with all aspects of the written word, improving communication skills, while nurturing the art of writing and storytelling.

The annual festival features established and emerging writers from around the world, alongside local literary talents, in a programme that includes panel discussions, book talks, readings, workshops, walks, school programmes, performances, and more.

We are a registered charity non-profit organisation dedicated to bringing the best in the literary arts to Hong Kong.

Learn more and secure your spot here.