“Two years ago I was on the train from Berlin to Frankfurt when I heard that the Nobel Peace Prize had been awarded to my close friend, the writer Liu Xiaobo, who is imprisoned in China. To me it was confirmation that universal values and a moral code do exist, and that the point of the Nobel Prize is to encourage writers to stand up for this moral code. Last Thursday I was once again on the train from Berlin to Frankfurt when I heard that the Nobel Prize for Literature had gone to Mo Yan. He is a state poet. I am utterly bewildered. Do these universal values not exist after all?” ValuesLiteratureMoralPoetTrainCodePrizeNobel PrizeClose FriendsConfirmation Author:Liao Yiwu
“To me the truth comes first and then the literature. We in China are dealing with a dictatorial system and we writers have to take a stance on it.” Literature Author:Liao Yiwu