Exclusive | Censorship has spurred writers, says Nobel Prize winner Mo Yan

Nobel Prize winner Mo Yan has revealed in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post that he believes censorship has motivated authors to write about topics seen as taboo.

The novelist, who won the literature prize almost a year ago, sparked controversy before the awards ceremony in Stockholm by saying mainland censorship was a "necessary evil".

The decision of the Nobel Committee to award the prize to Mo Yan - a long-time Communist Party member and vice-chairman of the party-aligned Chinese Writers' Association - also raised eyebrows among critics of China, who saw him as a writer "inside the system".

However, the 58-year-old told the Post in a three-hour interview at his new apartment on the outskirts of Beijing: "Censorship gives writers motivation to challenge these forbidden zones."

Mo Yan, who started writing in the 1980s, said: "The 1980s was a golden period for literature that I miss so much. At that time, there were many taboos which writers liked to challenge. Their excitement inspired creativity and imagination.

"But I'm not saying that these taboos gave rise to good works of literature. As a matter of fact, I never meant to say anything like that. I'm just giving you a true picture of that period."

He added: "I don't think a writer should shun social problems. On the other hand, I also don't believe a writer's responsibility is to write about grave and complicated social issues."