Chinese writer Mo Yan, often described as a magic-realist, won the Nobel Prize in literature Thursday.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Mo the prestigious prize, saying the author's "hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary."

A Time Magazine interview said "by placing much of his writing in the past, and through the adroit subtlety of his magic-realist style, Mo Yan avoids stirring up the animosity of the country's ever vigilant censors any more than he needs to. "

Mo's novel "Frog" poignantly explored the traditional Chinese preference for boys over girls, a preference that stems from the perception that boys are more able to provide for the family and carry on the family line.

That tendency has fed the practice of aborting female fetuses or abandoning infant girls, which continues today in rural parts of China.

Favorites for this year's award included American folk singer Bob Dylan, Canadian author Alice Munro, American novelist Philip Roth and Japanese author Haruki Murakami.

The 57-year-old is the 109th recipient of the prestigious prize, which was given last year to Swedish poet Tomas Transtroemer.

The award is granted only to living writers and is worth 8 million kronor.

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