Chinese novelist Mo Yan was awarded the first Newman Prize for Chinese Literature in the Sandy Lightwell Gallery at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art on the University of Oklahoma campus the night of March 6.

Peter Gries, Harold J. and Ruth Newman Chair in U.S.-China Issues director and associate professor...noted that there is disappointment present among many Chinese that the first ethnic Chinese to win a Nobel Prize for literature in 2000, Gao Xingjian, is based in France, but expressed pride that the Newman Prize "is the first major American-based prize for Chinese literature. "

attached to: Mo Yan