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Chinese author Mo Yan wins Nobel Prize for Literature | Chinese author Mo Yan wins Nobel Prize for Literature |
(35 minutes later) | |
Chinese author Mo Yan has been awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize for literature. | Chinese author Mo Yan has been awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize for literature. |
A prolific author, Mo has published dozens of short stories, with his first work published in 1981. | A prolific author, Mo has published dozens of short stories, with his first work published in 1981. |
The Swedish Academy praised his work which "with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary". | The Swedish Academy praised his work which "with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary". |
The 57-year-old is the first Chinese resident to win the prize. Chinese-born Gao Xingjian was honoured in 2000, but is a French citizen. | The 57-year-old is the first Chinese resident to win the prize. Chinese-born Gao Xingjian was honoured in 2000, but is a French citizen. |
Mo is the 109th recipient of the prestigious prize, won last year by Swedish poet Tomas Transtroemer. | Mo is the 109th recipient of the prestigious prize, won last year by Swedish poet Tomas Transtroemer. |
Presented by the Nobel Foundation, the award - only given to living writers - is worth 8 million kronor (£741,000). | Presented by the Nobel Foundation, the award - only given to living writers - is worth 8 million kronor (£741,000). |
"He has such a unique way of writing. If you read half a page of Mo Yan you immediately recognise it as him," said Peter Englund, head of the Academy. | |
He said Mo had been told of the award, adding: "He was at home with his dad. He said he was overjoyed and terrified." | |
Born Guan Moye, the author writes under the pen name Mo Yan, which means "don't speak" in Chinese. | Born Guan Moye, the author writes under the pen name Mo Yan, which means "don't speak" in Chinese. |
He began writing while a soldier in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and received international fame in 1987 for Red Sorghum: A Novel of China. | He began writing while a soldier in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and received international fame in 1987 for Red Sorghum: A Novel of China. |
Made into a film which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1988, the novella was a tale of the brutal violence in the eastern China countryside where he grew up during the 1920s and 1930s. | |
Favouring to write about China's past rather than contemporary issues, the settings for Mo's works range from the 1911 revolution, Japan's wartime invasion and Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. | Favouring to write about China's past rather than contemporary issues, the settings for Mo's works range from the 1911 revolution, Japan's wartime invasion and Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. |
"He has a very impressive oeuvre," Michel Hockx, Professor of Chinese at the University of London, said. | |
"He has a large readership and he addresses the human condition in a way in which the Nobel Committee likes to see." | |
Mo's other acclaimed works include Republic of Wine, Life And Death Are Wearing Me Out and Big Breasts and Wide Hips. | |
The latter book caused controversy when it was published in 1995 for its sexual content and depicting a class struggle contrary to the Chinese Communist Party line. | The latter book caused controversy when it was published in 1995 for its sexual content and depicting a class struggle contrary to the Chinese Communist Party line. |
The author was forced by the PLA to withdraw it from publication although it was pirated many times. | The author was forced by the PLA to withdraw it from publication although it was pirated many times. |
After it was translated into English a decade later, the book won him a nomination for the Man Asian Literary Prize. | After it was translated into English a decade later, the book won him a nomination for the Man Asian Literary Prize. |
Despite his social criticism Mo is seen in his homeland as one of the foremost contemporary authors, however critics have accused him of being too close to the Communist Party. | |
"A writer should express criticism and indignation at the dark side of society and the ugliness of human nature," the author said in a speech at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2009. | |
"Some may want to shout on the street, but we should tolerate those who hide in their rooms and use literature to voice their opinions." | |
His latest novel, Frog, about China's "one child" population control policy, won the Mao Dun Literature Prize - one of his country's most prestigious literature prizes - last year. | |
Mo and the other Nobel laureates for medicine, physics, chemistry and peace, will receive their prizes at formal ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo on 10 December - the anniversary of the death of prize creator Alfred Nobel in 1896. |