"I grew up in an environment immersed with (Chinese) folk culture, which inevitably come into my novels when I pick up a pen to write. This has definitely affected -- even decided -- my works’ artistic style," Mo told a group of reporters at a hotel in his hometown Gaomi, in Shandong province, two hours after he won the award.

"Winning the award means that I have to spare personal time for you (reporters)," said the writer half jokingly.

"I thank for those who have supported and criticized me online over the past half month – it has been quite a buzz period. But it has also been the best opportunity for me to get to know myself, seeing my flaws and shortcomings and also something valuable for me to carry on."

Chinese writer Mo Yan has won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature, announced Peter Englund, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy in Stockholm on Thursday. more *Mo pens Nobel success story *Sound bytes

Professor Howard Goldblatt, a world-leading US translator of contemporary Chinese literature, has dedicated years to introduce most of Mo's works to the English speaking world.

Shelly Chan, one of Goldblatt's students and an associate professor of Chinese language and cultural studies at Wittenberg University in Ohio, has also conducted in-depth research on the author.

Listen to what they had to say about Mo's works. more

Mo Yan's brush with cinematic fire started with a bang. In 1986, Mo published Red Sorghum as a novella; the following year the film version swept the world off its feet as it went on to collect the Golden Bear award at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival. more

Reading Mo Yan's latest novel, Wa (frogs, 2009), is both rewarding and unsettling. Like all his previous works, this one is full of action and drama. But while his earlier works created heroic protagonists like "My Grandpa" and "My Grandma" who waged war against Japanese invaders in the past, Frog chronicles the painful, almost bizarre, modernization of the "Northeast Gaomi Township", which Mo has created over the past decades based on his rural hometown in East China's Shangdong province. more