Liu Zhenyun

Liu grew up in the village of Laozhuang in Yanjin County, Henan, China. At age 14, he left his village and joined the army. At age 20, he took the national college entrance exam, achieved the highest score in Henan province, and was accepted at Peking University. After graduation, he became a journalist. In the 1980s Liu began to concentrate seriously on his literary career, publishing his debut novella Tapu, in 1987.

Liu Zhenyun (born May 1958) is a Chinese novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his novel Someone to Talk To (awarded the 2011 Mao Dun Literature Prize) as well as his involvement with the many film adaptions of his books. Among these is I Am Not Madame Bovary, produced in collaboration with director Feng Xiaogang, a frequent collaborator of Liu. He is married to noted human rights activist Guo Jianmei.

Many of Liu's books have been adapted into TV series and movies. He has written the screenplays for some of them including: A Small Town: Tapu, Ground Covered with Chicken Feathers, The Cook, the Crook, and the Real Estate Tycoon, Remembering 1942, Someone to Talk To, I Did Not Kill My Husband. Several of these adapted films have been awarded in the film festivals around the world, including the Toronto International Film Festival, the Rome Film Festival, the Busan International Film Festival, and the Hong Kong International Film Festival, among others.

Liu often credits his upbringing in Yanjin county as influencing his work, especially growing up in the shadow of the 1942 famine. He also is noted for including political criticism as well as advocating for social justice in his works.