Chinese writer Mo Yan has won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature . He is the first Chinese who lives and works in China to win the prize. Mo Yan, the pen-name for Guan Moye, was bom in 1955 and grew up in Gaomi in Shandong province in eastern China. His parents were farmers. He left school to work at the age of 12, first on the farm, later in a factory. In 1976 he joined the PLA and during this time he began to study literature and writing. His first short story was published in 1981. He has written many famous books about his childhood and his hometown. The novel Honggaoliang jiazu is one of them. It tells five stories that took place in Gaomi during the 1930s and 1940s. The book was published in 1987 and translated into English in 1993. It was made into a popular movie in 1987 by the well-known director Zhang Yimou. Besides his novels, Mo Yan has published many short stories and essays . He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in China. Many of his books have been translated into English, French and many other languages. The Nobel Prizes were set up by Alfred Nobel, a great Swedish inventor, in 1895. The winner will win a medal, a diploma  and a cash award of 8 million Swedish Kronor (about 7 million yuan). What was Alfred Nobel?
He was a poet. He was a director. He was an inventor. He was a writer.