Six years of writing, 200 rejections — how Miles Franklin award-winning writer Siang Lu learned to live with failure

Failure is a part of life, whether we like it or not. While most of us don't ever want to fail, failure does have things to teach us — about ourselves, about resilience, about persistence, and about doing the things we love. Over six years, Siang Lu received more than 200 rejections from publishers for three manuscripts — before going on to publish a Miles Franklin award winning novel. What did he learn about failure, and what did it teach him about success? The 2025 E.W Cole Lecture was recorded on 20 November 2025 at The Wheeler Centre, Australia's first dedicated centre for books, writing and ideas. Explore more discussions like this one on The Wheeler Centre podcast — available wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow @wheelercentre for updates. Speakers Siang Lu Author, Ghost Cities (2025 Miles Franklin Award), The Whitewash Co-founder (with Jonathan O'Brien), The Beige Index Toni Jordan (host) Author, Tenderfoot, Addition, Dinner with the Schnabels and more