Ni Yi, a female writer from Rugao, a county-level city of Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo/WeChat account: rugaofabu]

Ni Yi, a young female writer from Rugao, won the short story award of the eighth Zijinshan Literature Award of Jiangsu province for her work Aphasia. She is the first local writer in Rugao to receive this prestigious literary honor.

Ni, whose real name is Ni Ruimei, was born and grew up in Rugao. She started writing fiction in 2018 and published her works in various magazines. She also published a collection of stories called Woman and Cat and became a member of the Chinese Writers Association.

She said that she found the best way to coexist with the world was through reading and writing, and that winning the Zijinshan Literature Award inspired her to continue on this path.

Aphasia was based on the story of a female colleague who suffered from severe depression due to family conflicts and entered a psychiatric hospital for treatment. Ni decided to write it for other women who struggle with depression due to family issues.

The Zijinshan Literature Award, established in 1999, is the most authoritative literary award in Jiangsu province and one of the most influential provincial literary awards in the country. It has been recognized by domestic literary circles.