Wang Jibing wins China’s top literary prize: Key takeaways
- A delivery rider poet has won the most prestigious prize in Chinese literature
- He comes from a new school of poets that detail the pressure of working in China’s gig economy
One of China’s most prestigious literary honours has been bestowed upon one of its most unlikely contenders, a delivery driver. Wang Jibing (王计兵), 56, from Jiangsu claimed the honour for a collection of poetry on the pressures of the gig work economy.
Wang became a delivery rider in around 2019 after decades of precarious work
The work in question is his 2024 collection Low Flight (低处飞行) and it’s received the Lu Xun Literary Prize (鲁迅文学奖) – a prize named after the legendary modern Chinese writer who directed his sharp tongue at the faults he saw in society. The book draws on Wang’s own experience as a rider, as well as interviews and surveys with around 200 fellow delivery workers.
Wang became a delivery rider in around 2019 after decades of precarious work. Financial hardship forced him to leave school as a teenager. He later worked in construction, collected waste and ran a street stall. Yet through it all he continued reading and writing, posting his poems and essays online.
Wang has said that he would not leave his delivery job
His writing first found a wide audience in 2022 with a poem titled Man in a Hurry (赶时间的人) that went viral. A long frustrating delivery caused by a mistaken address was the inspiration. A collection of the same name followed in 2023.
What’s very cool about Wang’s win, is that the prize has spotlit a side of China’s convenient, on-demand economy we know is gruelling and tough but rarely hear much of – at least not in this first-hand sense. Wang’s poems highlight the struggle of delivery work. ‘Who says spreading your wings means flying high? Flying low is also flying,’ reads one line from Low Flight.
Speaking to the Global Times after the announcement, Wang said the attention had made him nervous and stressed, and that he would not leave his delivery job. He intends to continue working until 60, describing the role as a source of fitness and a ‘down-to-earth life’.
