(FILE)

Zhou Xiaotian, a poet and professor with the College of Literature and Journalism at Sichuan University, came into the center of controversy after winning the prestigious Lu Xun Literature Prize in mid-August for his poetry collection, Invitation to Tea.

Not long after the prize was awarded, Zhou's verses were posted online by Internet users, with one commenting that they were "nothing more than doggerels unworthy of the prize." Many have criticized the winner for the colloquial style of his poems. Zhou, however, has refuted the criticisms. "Vernacular poems are not necessarily ill-written. You can hardly expect people to read serious poems nowadays," he said. Zhou, born in 1948 in southwest China's Sichuan Province, is adept at writing poems about current affairs using ancient Chinese poetic forms but vernacular language.

The poetry prize, named after Lu Xun (1881-1936), one of China's best-known modern writers, was first awarded in 1986. It honors writers of outstanding short- to mid-length novels, poems, prose, reportage and literary reviews, and is bestowed once every three years.