Liu Zhenyun (born May 1958) is a Chinese novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his novel ''

Someone to Talk To ''Someone to Talk To'' is a 2016 Chinese drama film directed by Liu Yulin, a Tisch School of the Arts student and a silver medalist at the 41st Student Academy Awards, in her feature film directorial debut. Liu Zhenyun, Liu Yulin's father, wrote ...

'' (awarded the 2011

Mao Dun Literature Prize Mao Dun Literature Prize () 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 t ...

) as well as his involvement with the many film adaptions of his books. Among these is ''

I Am Not Madame Bovary ''I Am Not Pan Jinlian'' (), known in English as ''I Am Not Madame Bovary'', is a 2016 Chinese comedy film directed by Feng Xiaogang and written by Liu Zhenyun, based on Liu's 2012 novel ''I Did Not Kill My Husband''. The film stars Fan Bingbing, ...

'', produced in collaboration with director

Feng Xiaogang Feng Xiaogang (; born 18 March 1958 in Beijing) is a Chinese film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and politician. He is well known in China as a highly successful commercial filmmaker whose comedy films do consistently well at the box of ...

, a frequent collaborator of Liu. He is married to noted human rights activist

Guo Jianmei Guo Jianmei (; born March 27, 1960) is a Chinese lawyer, human rights activist and director of a women's legal aid NGO. In 2005, she was one of 1000 women put forward as nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize. Guo is the recipient of the 2010 Simone D ...

Life and Work

Liu grew up in the village of Laozhuang in Yanjin County,

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

, 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 Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

. 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

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 ''Back to 1942'' is a 2012 Chinese historical film directed by Feng Xiaogang. It is based on Liu Zhenyun's novel ''Remembering 1942'', and is about Chinese famine of 1942-43, a major famine in Henan, China, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. On 1 ...

'', ''

'', ''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 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

, the

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. Sections The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: Cinema d'Og ...

, the

Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, previously Pusan International Film Festival, PIFF), held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan (''also'' Pusan), South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festi ...

, and the

Hong Kong International Film Festival The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), is one of Asia’s oldest international film festivals. Founded in 1976, the festival features different movies, filmmakers from different countries in Hong Kong. HKIFF screens around 230 films ...

, 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

* 2011:

, winner, ''One Sentence Is Ten Thousand Sentences''

External links

* Interviews with Liu Zhenyu

* List of works (in Chinese

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Zhenyun 1958 births Living people Chinese male novelists Mao Dun Literature Prize laureates Peking University alumni Writers from Xinxiang People's Liberation Army personnel People's Republic of China journalists