Market Stall Writer Nominated for Lu Xun Literature Prize

Chen Hui, a female writer who earns her living running a market stall in Zhejiang Province, has been nominated for the prestigious Lu Xun Literature Prize — one of China’s highest national literary honors. Her essay collection “In the Market, In the World” (《在菜场，在人间》) was selected as a nominee in the Essay/Miscellaneous Prose category, according to the China Writers Association, which announced the 9th edition’s nomination list on July 12.

A Life Between Stall and Page

Chen Hui, born in Rugao, Jiangsu Province, has lived in Yuyao, Zhejiang for many years. She runs a stall at Liangnong Town market selling daily necessities such as hangers, colanders, and kitchenware. A vocational high school graduate who studied tailoring, she began writing short pieces on QQ Space in 2010 as a way to pass the time between customers.

Her life has been marked by resilience. Given up for adoption at age three, she returned to her biological parents at 14, worked as a tailor, ran a grocery store, married at 27 in Zhejiang, and divorced at 40. She began market vending when her child was just nine months old out of financial necessity. Writing became both an escape and a record of the world around her.

Since publishing her first collection in 2018, Chen has released six books. Her nominated work, “In the Market, In the World,” published in 2023, documents the lives of neighbors, customers, and fellow vendors — capturing the bustle of market life and the dignity of ordinary existence.

Recognition for Grassroots Literature

Chen’s nomination is part of a broader cultural phenomenon known as “new mass literature” (新大众文艺) — a movement recognizing literary works created by ordinary people from non-professional backgrounds. The nomination list also includes Wang Jibing, a food delivery driver known as the “delivery driver poet,” nominated for the poetry prize, and Jin Xiaoyu, the “genius translator,” nominated for the translation prize, as reported by Qilu Yidian.

On May 17, 2026, a seminar was held at the China Modern Literature Museum in Beijing, where nearly 20 literary critics and scholars gathered to discuss Chen’s work. Wu Yiqin, Vice Chairman of the China Writers Association, praised her writing, saying: “Chen Hui’s creation is always rooted in the earth, focusing on the shimmering light in ordinary people’s lives. She is a highly representative living sample of new mass literary practice,” as reported by the Literary Gazette.

‘I Still Have to Get Up at 4 AM’

Despite the national recognition, Chen remains grounded in her daily routine. At the seminar, she told attendees: “Thank you all for calling me a writer, but I have never been obsessed with this title. After I go back, I still have to get up early to go to the market and set up my stall. I just want to show ordinary people through my own experience that there are more possibilities in life.”

Speaking at the Jiangsu Book Fair in early July 2026, Chen made clear she has no plans to abandon her stall. “I never thought that after becoming famous I would give up vending. Vending is by no means inferior to writing. I originally started writing just to relieve the loneliness of being a stranger in a foreign land,” she said, as The Paper reported.

Literary Merit and Broader Significance

Literary critics have drawn comparisons between Chen’s work and that of celebrated Chinese writer Wang Zengqi. Li Nan, a professor at Fudan University, noted: “Chen Hui’s work brings readers truth and sincerity. She observes the people around her and calmly tells their life stories without moral judgment, without preaching, but full of compassion. Reading her work feels quite similar to the flavor of Wang Zengqi’s novels,” according to the Beijing Youth Daily.

Chen’s nomination signals the Chinese literary establishment’s growing openness to diverse voices beyond traditional literary circles. The public comment period for nominations runs from July 12 to July 14, 2026, with final winners expected to be announced in September 2026.

What to Watch For

Whether Chen Hui ultimately wins the prize remains to be seen, but her story has already resonated widely. Her journey from market stall to national literary recognition embodies a powerful narrative: that art can emerge from anywhere, and that the lives of ordinary people deserve to be recorded with dignity and care. As Chen herself put it: “When we are spinning like wheels in daily life, we can stop and look at the wildflowers by the roadside, at the birds in the sky.”