Delivery courier becomes laureate of one of China's main literary prizes

Chinese food delivery courier Wang Jibin became the laureate of the Lu Xun Literary Prize—one of the most prestigious awards in the field of literature in China.

Recognition came to the writer for his collection of works Low Flight, based on his personal experience working in the delivery sector and the everyday life of couriers.

The book includes poems, many of which, according to the author, were written during short breaks between orders right on scraps of paper. In his works, Wang Jibin writes about hard labor, unstable employment, and the daily challenges faced by workers in the platform economy.

The 56-year-old writer began working as a courier in 2019. Even before receiving the prestigious award, he gained popularity on Chinese social networks, where he published poems and essays dedicated to the lives of ordinary people.

He was born in Jiangsu province and was forced to leave school as a teenager due to his family's financial difficulties. Before becoming a courier, he had changed many professions, working as a construction worker, garbage collector, and street vendor.

Despite the difficult working conditions, Wang did not abandon his passion for literature. Over the past ten years, he regularly published his own works, gradually gaining readers' attention.

The Lu Xun Literary Prize is named after the writer considered the founder of modern Chinese literature. The amount of the monetary award for laureates is not officially disclosed, but earlier, according to open sources, it amounted to about 100 thousand yuan (25 thousand manat).

Wang Jibin's victory is truly special at a time when more and more representatives of working professions are becoming prominent figures in Chinese literature, telling about the lives of working people and the realities of the modern economy through their own works.

Source: BBC