A statue of Mao Dun, at his former residence in Beijing.
Mao Dun Literature Prize (Chinese: 茅盾文学奖; pinyin: Máo Dùn Wénxué Jiǎng) is a prize for novels, established in the will of prominent Chinese writer Mao Dun (for which he personally donated 250,000 RMB) and sponsored by the China Writers Association. Awarded every four years, it is one of the most prestigious literature prizes in China. It was first awarded in 1982.
According to selection rule, any work, authored by Chinese nationals, published in mainland China, and with over 130,000 characters, is eligible.
The selection committee in the Chinese Writers Association holds the voting poll twice, and the winner must receive over 2/3 of the votes cast. The process is highly selective and each time, the number of winners is between three and five. The prize is awarded every four years, though it was originally awarded every three years.
The award was recently criticized for the 2011 awards,[1] when it was revealed that eight of the top ten on the list were either the chair or vice-chairpersons of prominent provincial writers' associations.[1] An editorial in the China Daily stated "official status cannot and should not be a criterion for literary excellence. That's why people doubt the authenticity of prizes that are awarded to officials for their literary achievements."[1]
To avoid such controversy, novelist Tie Ning decided her works will not enter the awards as long as she is chairwoman of China Writers Association, a position she took in 2006.[2]
1982 (1st) - Gu Hua, A Small Town Called Hibiscus (trans. Gladys Yang, Panda Books, 1983) / Li Guowen, Spring in Winter (trans. Liu Quanfu, Sinoist Books, 2 vols., 2018–2019)
2015 (9th) - Ge Fei, Peach Blossom Paradise (trans. Canaan Morse, New York Review Books, 2022) / Su Tong, Shadow of the Hunter (trans. James Trapp, Sinoist Books, 2022)
2019 (10th) - Xu Huaizhong, That Which Can't Be Washed Away (trans. Haiwang Yuan and Will Spence, Sinoist Books, 2023)
Nominees
2011 (8th) - Jiang Zilong, Empires of Dust (trans. Christopher Payne and Olivia Milburn, Sinoist Books, 2019)
2015 (9th) - Fan Wen [zh], My Country, My Blood (trans. Scott Rainen, Big Sky Publishing, 2019)
2019 (10th) - Liu Liangcheng [zh], Bearing Word (trans. Jeremy Tiang, Balestier Press, 2023)
