Mo's Nobel triumph inspires young writers

Mo Yan winning the Nobel Prize in Literature has brought more confidence to China's young authors, many have claimed.

The 57-year-old writer became the hot topic overnight in China after winning the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature in Stockholm Thursday, his books quickly selling out online and in bookstores. And younger writers say they have been inspired by the first Chinese national to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

"Young writers are now convinced that it is not meaningless or ridiculous to insist on pursuing writing in China," said Jiang Fangzhou, 23-year-old writer who published her first book at the age of nine.

Zhang Yueran, 30-year-old writer and chief editor of "Li" magazine said young writers will feel more confident in themselves. "Mo's triumph indicates that Chinese literature has been truly accepted by the foreign literature world."

Zhang also said that she became a fan of Mo's work when a child. "Mo is one of the greatest writers of this era," she said.

Critics have claimed that the younger generation of Chinese authors, unlike older writers like Mo who often set stories in a historical background, are less concerned about the real world and lack social responsibility as a writer.

Writer Su De, who was born in 1981, believes young authors have different opportunities. "The complicated historical period provided writers of Mo's generation with a great writing environment. But for literary works, creating interesting stories is most important."

Su believes young authors have their own advantages. They can easily get access to world literature by reading foreign novels and communicating with authors worldwide, which was impossible for Mo's generation when they were young.

But Su said there are still barriers between Chinese literature and the world literature field.

"When communicating with authors from the West, it seems that we know a lot about them but their knowledge of Chinese literature is limited," she said.

But Mo's success may change all that, say industry figures.

"It's opened a new window on China. International publishers and reviewers will pay more attention to Chinese literature, and more Chinese works will be translated and introduced to the international readers," said Huang Yuning, 35-year-old senior editor of Shanghai Translation Publishing House.

Huang, who has introduced 200 foreign literary works to China in the past decade, believes that Chinese literature will draw more international attention after Mo's win.