Yan Lianke, whose bleakly humorous novel Lenin's Kisses is published in Britain on Thursday, had two books banned in the past decade. He said it had been easier to publish in the five years before that.

He also criticised the intelligentsia – including last year's Nobel literature prize-winner Mo Yan – for failing to speak out on important issues. "Chinese intellectuals haven't taken enough responsibility. They always have an excuse, saying they don't have a reason to talk or don't have the environment ... If they could all stand up, they would have a loud voice," he told the Guardian.

attached to: Yan Lianke