# Liu Zhenyun

Liu Zhenyun (born May 1958) is a Chinese novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his novel Someone to Talk To (awarded the 2011 Mao Dun Literature Prize) 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 (故乡天下黄花), Anecdotes in the Hometown (故乡相处流传), Material and Spirit in the Hometown (故乡面和花朵), Nonsense Talk (一腔废话), Cell Phone (手机), The Cook, the Crook, and the Real Estate Tycoon (我叫刘跃进).
His novels Someone to Talk To (一句顶一万句) and I Did Not Kill My Husband (我不是潘金莲) 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 (塔铺), Recruits (新兵连), The Office (单位), Ground Covered with Chicken Feathers (一地鸡毛), Remembering 1942 (温故一九四二). 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

| Year | Title | Chinese Publisher | English Publisher | Translator |
| 1989 | A Small Town: Tapu (塔铺) | Writers Publishing House | | |
| 1991 | Hometown, Regime and Blood (故乡天下黄花) | 中国青年出版社 (China Youth Press) | | |
| 1992 | Corridors of Power (官场) | 华艺出版社 (Hua Yi Publishing House) | Chinese Literature Press | David Kwan |
| 1992 | Ground Covered with Chicken Feathers (一地鸡毛) | China Youth Press | Foreign Languages Press | David Kwan |
| 1992 | Official (官人) | 长江文艺出版社 (Yangtze River Literature & Art Publishing House) | | |
| 1993 | Anecdotes in the Hometown (故乡相处流传) | Hua Yi Publishing House | | |
| 1998 | Material and Spirit in the Hometown (故乡面和花朵) | Hua Yi Publishing House | | |
| 2002 | Nonsense Talk (一腔废话) | 中国工人出版社 (China Workers Publishing House) | | |
| 2003 | Cellphone (手机) | Writers Publishing House | MerwinAsia | Howard Goldblatt |
| 2007 | The Cook, the Crook, and the Real Estate Tycoon (我叫刘跃进) | Yangtze River Literature & Art Publishing House | Arcade Publishing | Howard Goldblatt & Sylvia Li-chun Lin |
| 2009 | Someone to Talk To (一句顶一万句) (also known as One Sentence Is Ten Thousand Sentences) | Yangtze River Literature & Art Publishing House | Duke University Press | Howard Goldblatt & Sylvia Li-chun Lin |
| 2009 | Remembering 1942 (温故一九四二) | People's Literature Publishing House | Arcade Publishing | Howard Goldblatt & Sylvia Li-chun Lin |
| 2012 | I Did Not Kill My Husband (我不是潘金莲) | Yangtze River Literature & Art Publishing House | Arcade Publishing | Howard Goldblatt & Sylvia Li-chun Lin |
| 2017 | The Era of Watermelon Eaters (吃瓜时代的儿女们) | Yangtze River Literature & Art Publishing House | | |
| 2021 | One Day Three Autumns (一日三秋) | 花城出版社 (Huacheng Publishing House) | Sinoist Press | Howard Goldblatt & Sylvia Li-chun Lin |

## Awards

* 2011: Mao Dun Literature Prize, winner, Someone to Talk To