China's Nobel laureate writes his own political story

(Xinhua)

10:38, March 02, 2013

BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- As both a storyteller and a political advisor, Mo Yan, winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature, understands the difference between literature and politics.

His hallucinatory realist work that merges folk tales, history and contemporary life, combined with his skilled and fascinating style of storytelling, earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature last year.

His renown as the first Chinese national to win a Nobel prize brought him into the spotlight of the country's political arena.

Last month, he was elected a member of the National Committee of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, which is slated to open its annual session on Sunday.

"My participation in the CPPCC meeting is a serious thing. To me, being a political advisor means a sense of duty rather than an honor," Mo said in an interview with Xinhua at a dining table inside the Railway Hotel in downtown Beijing on Friday.

Although he became a household name in China after nabbing a Nobel, 58-year-old Mo can seem shy on social occasions, nodding and smiling in a restrained way when he is greeted by another political advisor.

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