Yan Lianke’s compelling novel tells the story of one of China’s most controversial periods, the Great Famine, in which at least 45 million people died
Yan Lianke
Prolific author Yan Lianke was born in 1958 in Henan Province, China
He is the author of numerous novels and short-story collections, including Serve the People!, Dream of Ding Village and Lenin’s Kisses. The winner of multiple literary awards in China, including the Lao She, Lu Xun and Hua Zhong World Chinese Literature Prize, he was also awarded the Franz Kafka Prize in 2014 and has been shortlisted for both the Man Booker International Prize 2013 and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. He currently lives and writes in Beijing.
The Man Booker International Prize
Between 2005 - 2015, the Man Booker International Prize recognised one writer for their achievement in fiction.
Worth £60,000, the prize was awarded every two years to a living author who had published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation in the English language.
The winner was chosen solely at the discretion of the judging panel and there were no submissions from publishers.
The Man Booker International Prize was different from the annual Man Booker Prize for Fiction in that it highlighted one writer’s overall contribution to fiction on the world stage. In focusing on overall literary excellence, the judges considered a writer’s body of work rather than a single novel.
All nominated books
Yan Lianke’s fantastical satire about a culture so obsessed with an ever-expanding lust for power and money that it has forgotten its soul
