CHINESE DELIVERY RIDER WINS LU XUN LITERARY PRIZE FOR POETRY COLLECTION

Wang Jibing, a food delivery rider, has won the Lu Xun Literary Prize, one of China's highest literary honours, for his poetry collection Low Flight. The 56-year-old's work draws on interviews and surveys conducted with approximately 200 delivery riders and explores the everyday pressures of China's gig economy. Wang told state media outlet Global Times on 15 July that he felt "extremely nervous" upon learning of the award, adding that media attention had created mental pressure on him.

Wang left school at 14 due to financial hardship and worked in construction, waste scavenging and street vending before becoming a food delivery rider around 2019. His transition to writing gained public attention after a 2019 incident in which he spent hours searching three residential buildings and climbing 18 flights of stairs following a customer's incorrect address; the experience inspired his poem Man in a Hurry, which went viral on social media. He published his first poetry collection, also titled Man in a Hurry: Poems of a Food Delivery Rider, in 2023, followed by Low Flight in 2024. Wang has continued posting poems and essays on social media throughout this period.

The Lu Xun Literary Prize, named after a writer referred to as the father of modern Chinese literature, does not publicly announce monetary awards to recipients, though the prize stood at 100,000 Chinese yuan (approximately £11,000) as of 2014. Wang represents a growing group of blue-collar workers gaining recognition for literary works that document pressures within China's gig economy. Despite winning the award, Wang stated he had no intention of leaving his delivery job, saying he planned to work until age 60 and valued the work's physical demands and social engagement.