He entered the literature department of the PLA Art Academy in 1984 and published A Transparent Radish, which reveals a unique style. His Red Sorghum was chosen by readers as the best-loved novelette in a poll conducted by People's Literature in 986. Mo Yan is an author who is subjected in his thinking, with a tendency to be gloomy and introverted. Hie early works recall his days as a peasant and worker. They are characterized by coldness and restraint. Under the impact of modern Western Literary trends, his more recent works contain strong feelings and tense atmospheres. Nevertheless, his works are firmly rooted in Chinese soil. Mo Yan is also deeply involved in culture through classic drama and folk art, a factor advantageous to his becoming an author of the "modern Chinese type."

Mo Yan's writing has gained him a considrable audience-not only in China, but in overseas, where he is considered one of the most talented and intereting of China's writers. Unsentimental portrayals of grinding poverty, forced abortion, sexual and emotional repression fo hand in hand with mordant humour and fantastical flights of imagination in the fictionalized world Mo Yan creates among the wheat and sorghum fields of his boyhood home. His often dark vision is transformed by his deep love for his land and people, his mastery of language and the sheer intensity and exuberance of his writings. Hia main woks include "Folk Music" (1983,) "A Transparent Radish" (1985), "Explosion" (1985), "Red Sorghum" (1986), "Rejoice" (1987), and "Red Locusts" (1987).