Chinese writer Yan Lianke will receive the Czech Franz Kafka Prize in October this year, according to a report on ceskenoviny.cz on Tuesday. Yan is the first Chinese author to win the prize, and the second Asian writer to win the honor after Haruki Murakami in 2006.

"Just like the Nobel Prize, the Franze Kafka Prize is awarded to person, rather than a single work, as a conclusion of all the work in his life. So it is a great honor for us," said Peng Lun, a literature editor.

Set up in 2001, the Franze Kafka Prize is an annual international award held in the Old Town Hall in Prague in honor of Austrian writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924). As one of the requirements to win the prize, at least one of the author's works needs to have been translated and published in Czech.

In an interview with lyd.com.cn, a local media outlet in Yan's hometown, Yan said he felt at ease about winning the award even though he knew nothing about the selection process.

Yan's works are seen as excelling at describing the bottom level of society in a magical realist style. A winner of the Lu Xun Literature Prize and the Lao She Literature Prize in China, Yan was also a finalist for the 2013 Man Booker International prize. Many of his books have been translated and published overseas, including his novel The Four Books, which has been translated into Czech.