(FILE)

Chinese writer Yan Lianke won the Franz Kafka Prize on May 27, becoming the first Chinese author to win the award.

The Franz Kafka Society, the co-sponsor of the award, summarized Yan's works as "strongly satirical with a tinge of parody."

Born in 1958, Yan started writing in 1978. Often called a "master of magic realism," but he coined the term "mystical/spiritual realism" to describe his own works. Yan's works have been translated into more than 20 foreign languages.

The Franz Kafka prize was launched in 2001 to honor the German-language writer Franz Kafka. The award is also seen as foreshadowing the Nobel Prize in Literature.