Mo Yan's hometown to hail Nobel success

China's first Nobel literature laureate, Mo Yan, will be the main theme at this year's Red Sorghum festival in his hometown of Gaomi, in East China's Shandong province.

The Red Sorghum Culture Festival, inspired by Mo's 1986 novella Red Sorghum, will be staged in Gaomi on Sunday with Mo's Nobel achievement a key focus of the event, according to a statement on the local government website.

Red Sorghum, which depicts a young woman's life in a distillery for sorghum liquor, was adapted into a film by director Zhang Yimou in 1987 and the book saw Mo achieve instant fame that year.

The culture festival has been hosted by the county government of Gaomi from 2010 in an attempt to boost tourism.

During this year's festival, banners and slogans hailing Mo's Nobel achievement, will be hung in the main streets and public areas. A gala and cooking competition and a handicraft fair will also be staged.

Mo was announced the winner of this year's Nobel Prize for literature on Oct 11.