From reader to author

When werewolf Eve Valmont is cursed, abandoned by her fiancé, framed by her sister and imprisoned, her future appears hopeless. Forced into a political marriage with Hades Stavros, the feared and ruthless king of the Lycans, she is ordered to assassinate him. Hades, meanwhile, intends to use her to destroy her people. Yet as the two enemies battle for power and survival, they unexpectedly fall in love.

The story contains all the ingredients of a modern fantasy bestseller: romance, revenge, betrayal and redemption. Yet while its werewolves and mythical setting may seem familiar to Western fantasy readers, its storytelling DNA comes from somewhere else.

The novel Hades' Cursed Luna won WebNovel's Highly Acclaimed Reader Favourite Award in 2025. Its author is not Chinese, but a young woman from Nigeria named Esther Toluwase Akande.

Her journey reflects a growing phenomenon across Africa, where a new generation of readers is discovering Chinese online literature and, increasingly, becoming authors themselves.

A new literary influence

Chinese online literature, often known as web novels, began attracting overseas audiences years ago through fan translations of popular works such as Coiling Dragon and I Shall Seal the Heavens. As international readership expanded, WebNovel, an international platform launched by Yuewen, a leading cultural industry group in China, in 2017, became a major gateway connecting Chinese storytelling with global audiences.

A year later, the platform introduced original publishing opportunities for international writers. Among those who seized the chance was Akande, better known online by her pen name Lilac Everglade.

The name symbolises resilience - a flower blooming in difficult conditions. It is a fitting description of her own life story.

After Hades' Cursed Luna received recognition, Akande travelled to China as part of the fourth Shanghai International Online Literature Week. Alongside authors from 14 other countries, she explored Chinese culture, wore traditional hanfu clothing, sampled local cuisine and learned how successful novels can evolve into films, short dramas, games and merchandise.

What impressed her most was the scale of the industry. "After visiting, I realised it includes everything from novels to short dramas," she recalled. "I didn't know the industry was so vast."

The trip carried special significance. It was the first time she had travelled abroad.

Writing transformed her life. Once burdened by debt and forced to leave home amid financial hardship, she now earns enough to pay university tuition, help to repair her family's house and support her siblings.

She is not alone. Another Nigerian author attending the event was Glimmy (her pen name), whose novel Defy the Alphas has also attracted a large following on WebNovel. Like many successful online writers, she has mastered the art of suspense.

The technique is instantly recognisable to fans of Chinese web fiction, where cliffhangers and rapid plot twists are central to keeping readers engaged chapter after chapter.

The rise of writers like Akande and Glimmy illustrates a broader trend. According to a report on the global reach of China's online literature released during the fourth Shanghai International Online Literature Week in December 2025, WebNovel had accumulated nearly 400 million global users by October 2025. The platform has nurtured nearly 530,000 writers worldwide and hosted more than 820,000 original works. Half of all contracted authors were born after 2000, while the number of authors born after 2005 increased by nearly 56 percent year on year.

For many young people, reading Chinese web novels has become the first step towards creating their own stories.

"This is the result of long-term accumulation," said Wang Zhongjie, general manager of overseas business at Yuewen. "Readers become inspired after consuming Chinese web novels and begin writing themselves. Some locally created works attract tens of millions of readers and generate significant income."

He believes global readers appreciate both the uniqueness of Eastern storytelling and the familiarity of Western fantasy settings.

A localised formula

The spread of Chinese web fiction in Africa has not been a simple process of translation. Many classic Chinese genres, particularly xianxia (immortal heroes) and cultivation fantasy, contain concepts that can be difficult for newcomers to understand. Terms related to Daoist philosophy, spiritual cultivation and ancient Chinese cosmology often lack direct cultural equivalents for international readers.

As a result, writers and platforms have developed a different strategy. Rather than copying Chinese stories directly, they retain the narrative structure and emotional appeal while adapting the setting to suit local audiences.

Akande's success offers a textbook example. Although Hades' Cursed Luna draws on werewolf mythology and references the Greek god Hades, its storytelling follows a distinctly Chinese web-novel formula. The heroine begins in a position of weakness, faces repeated humiliation and setbacks, and gradually rises to reclaim control over her destiny.

"I was inspired by Chinese web novels," Akande explained. "I especially liked stories where women stand up for themselves. Those empowering moments are what young readers enjoy."

Readers may never encounter a Chinese word in her novel, but they still experience the fast pacing, emotional intensity, dramatic reversal and satisfying character growth that have become hallmarks of Chinese online fiction.

The approach has proven highly effective. African writers study how Chinese authors build suspense, structure chapters and maintain momentum. They then apply those techniques to stories written in English and populated by characters and settings familiar to their audiences.

Stories without borders

Chinese platforms have actively encouraged this localisation process.

WebNovel's annual writing competition, the WebNovel Spirity Awards, seeks promising writers from around the world and rewards outstanding original stories. Rather than encouraging imitation, the platform urges authors to draw inspiration from their own cultures and experiences.

The result is a growing international creative ecosystem where storytelling techniques cross borders while local voices remain at the centre.

From a small Nigerian town to the banks of Shanghai's Huangpu River, Akande's journey represents only one chapter in a much larger story.

Across Africa, countless young people are typing their first lines into smartphone screens, inspired by stories they discovered online. What attracts them is not merely a foreign cultural product but a sense of possibility.

For many, Chinese web novels offer more than entertainment. They provide a narrative framework in which ordinary people overcome overwhelming odds, reshape their futures and achieve success through perseverance. That message resonates deeply with young readers everywhere.

Perhaps that is the most compelling aspect of Chinese web literature's global journey. Beyond the fantasy worlds, dramatic plot twists and addictive cliffhangers lies a simple idea: destiny is not fixed, and anyone, regardless of where they begin, can write a different ending for themselves.