China's first national to win the Nobel prize for literature greets the media.<br/> <br />Fifty-seven-year-old Mo Yan was awarded the 1.2 million dollar prize for works combining fantasy and realism in China.<br/> <br />It came as a surprise to the author, once so destitute he was forced to eat tree bark to survive.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: CHINESE NOBEL LITERATURE PRIZE WINNER MO YAN SAYING (Mandarin):<br/> <br />"I am overjoyed. And I was also surprised when I first heard the news, because there are so many great writers queuing to win the prize around the world. I didn't expect me, as one of the comparatively young writers, to win. So I was very surprised when I first heard the news."<br/> <br />In his home village on Friday (October 12) his family welcomed the news of Mo's award.<br/> <br />Outside the farmhouse where he was born, his 90-year-old father continued his farm work, apparently unfazed by his internationally-acclaimed son.<br/> <br />The author's elder brother said he was proud of Mo's success.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: 62-YEAR-OLD GUAN MOXIN, OLDER BROTHER OF AUTHOR MO YAN, SAYING (Mandarin):<br/> <br />"We couldn't believe that he won at first. We finally believed it after reading the news again and again. We just thought it was not possible. He is just a man from this remote land, and this poor family, he is not from some big city."<br/> <br />Mo is best known in the West for "Red Sorghum", which portrayed the hardships of farmers in the early years of communist rule.
