Chen Yan (Chinese: 陈彦; born 1963) is a Chinese dramatist and novelist best known for his novel The Protagonist which won the 10th Mao Dun Literature Prize in 2019, one of the most prestigious literature prizes in China.
[1] He was a delegate to the 17th and 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
Chen was born in Zhen'an County, Shaanxi, in 1963.
At the age of 17, he published his first short story, Blasting (爆破), in Shaanxi Workers' Literature and Art.
[2] In 2004 he became president of Shaanxi Opera Research Institute.