Liu Zhenyun


Liu Zhenyun is a Chinese novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his novel Someone to Talk To as well as his involvement with the many film adaptions of his books. Among these is I Am Not Madame Bovary, produced in collaboration with director Feng Xiaogang, a frequent collaborator of Liu. He is married to noted human rights activist Guo Jianmei.

Life and Work

Liu grew up in the village of Laozhuang in Yanjin County, Henan, China. At age 14, he left his village and joined the army. At age 20, he took the national college entrance exam, achieved the highest score in Henan province, and was accepted at Peking University. After graduation, he became a journalist. In the 1980s Liu began to concentrate seriously on his literary career, publishing his debut novella Tapu, in 1987.
He went on to publish novels such as Hometown, Regime and Blood, Anecdotes in the Hometown, Material and Spirit in the Hometown, Nonsense Talk, Cell Phone, The Cook, the Crook, and the Real Estate Tycoon.
His novels Someone to Talk To and I Did Not Kill My Husband have sold over a million copies each. Someone to Talk To was awarded with Mao Dun Literature Prize in 2011 and has sold more than 1.6 million copies.
He has also authored novellas such as A Small Town: Tapu, Recruits, The Office, Ground Covered with Chicken Feathers, Remembering 1942. Throughout the years, Liu's works have been translated into over 28 languages.
Many of Liu's books have been adapted into TV series and movies. He has written the screenplays for some of them including: A Small Town: Tapu, Ground Covered with Chicken Feathers, The Cook, the Crook, and the Real Estate Tycoon, Remembering 1942, Someone to Talk To, I Did Not Kill My Husband. Several of these adapted films have been awarded in the film festivals around the world, including the Toronto International Film Festival, the Rome Film Festival, the Busan International Film Festival, and the Hong Kong International Film Festival, among others.

Themes and Influences

Liu often credits his upbringing in Yanjin county as influencing his work, especially growing up in the shadow of the 1942 famine. He also is noted for including political criticism as well as advocating for social justice in his works.

Works

Awards