Jia Pingwa (賈平凹), a famous writer and editor, was born on February 21, 1952, in Danfeng County of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province. His father was a village teacher and his mother a farmer. Jia graduated from Northwest University in 1972, and has lived in Xi’an, capital city of Shaanxi, ever since.

Jia’s major works include his novels "Abandoned City," "Shaanxi Opera," "Ancient Furnace" and “To Be Happy;” his novellas and short stories "The Good Fortune Grave" and "Wukui;" his essays "Ugly Stone," "Shangzhou Prefecture" and "The Weather."

Jia has won many literary awards and honors both at home and abroad. His national awards include the Mao Dun Literary Prize, the Lu Xun Literary Prize, the Best Short Story Prize, the Best Novella Prize, the Best Essay Prize, the Shi Nai’an Literary Award, the Chinese Media Award, the Bing Xin Essay Prize, the Zhu Ziqing Essay Prize and the Lao She Essay Prize.

Foreign awards and honors given to him include the Pegasus Prize for Literature, the Prix Femina étranger Prize, the Dream of the Red Chamber Award, the World’s Distinguished Novel in Chinese Award and an award given to him by the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Jia's works have been published in more than 20 foreign languages, including English, French, German, Russian, Korean and Vietnamese. They have been adapted into 14 movies, TV dramas, plays and operas.

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