New books on way from Nobel laureate Mo Yan
Demand for Mo Yan's work is red hot, and his publisher plans to meet that need with four fresh offerings
With his writings flying off bookshop shelves around the world, Mo Yan's publisher announced yesterday that the newly minted Nobel laureate would have four new books published by the year's end.
The first of the four new Chinese-language books, a pair of play scripts titled Womende Jingke, or "our Jingke", should hit the shelves before the end of the month.
The book offers an alternative history of an assassination attempt against China's first emperor, Qin Shihuang, who reigned from 221BC to 210BC.
Rather than describing the assassin - Jingke - as a warrior sacrificing himself for justice as the established histories do, Mo Yan's plays cast him as an ambitious adventurer in search of overnight fame.
One of the plays was staged by the Beijing People's Art Theatre in September.
The other three releases this year are expected to include a book of short stories, an anthology of essays and a collection of dialogues between Mo Yan and literary critic Wang Yao in 2002.
As the author's "unique authorised publishing company on the mainland", Beijing Genuine & Profound Cultural Development said yesterday it would also publish a complete collection of his 20 works to meet soaring demand. The collection would be available in hardcover and paperback.