Liu Zhenyun Wins the 18th Hua Zong World Chinese Literature Award
Chinese novelist Liu Zhenyun has won the 18th Hua Zong World Chinese Literature Award. He accepted the prize at a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on October 24, according to Publishing Perspectives.
The award honours writers who work in the Chinese language, wherever they live. It is organised by Malaysia's World Chinese Media Group and is biennial, which means it is handed out every two years. Each round selects one recipient. The prize was established in 1991.
Liu's books have been translated into more than 30 languages. Translation matters for a writer whose original work is in Chinese, because each foreign edition depends on a publisher buying the rights to print the book in another language. Those deals are how a story written in one place reaches readers in many others.
Earlier coverage from a Henan newspaper, the Xinxiang Daily, noted that Liu is a native writer of Yanjin County and reported in September that he had won the award with high votes.
Liu has also been recognised outside China. In 2024, St. Petersburg State University awarded him an honorary doctorate, a degree given to people for their achievements rather than for study.
For readers, the story is a useful reminder of how far a novel can travel. A book begins with one writer in one county, passes through translators and publishers in dozens of languages, and can end up on a shelf far from where it was written. A prize like this one puts a spotlight on that journey, and on the writer at the start of it.
