The nobel Prize in Literature was just announced, and it goes to a Chinese Writer – Mo Yan, who, while arguably not dissident, allegedly manages find ways to tell inconvenient truths. I am at the moment unfamiliar with his work, but will be remedying that asap. The selection would apparently please both China and the west , but the China Daily indicates reactions are mixed in China.
The LA Times has the story – and has some relevant sources. Our Billington library has quite a few of his works. I’m interested in “Big Breasts and Wide Hips” but will start with some of his work that has been made into movies first. Then I’m checking out the short stories. 
Two of his short story collections are titled, Explosions and Other Stories and Shifu: You’ll Do Anything for a Laugh.
Relevant links
- Wikipedia
- IMBD on Red Sorghum, one of his best known works, which should be called “red Milo” in Kansas.
