use feature 'unicode_strings';
  use Encode 'decode';
  ...
  while (my $item = $rs -> next)
  {
  	push @$result,
  	{
  		author_name => decode('utf8', $item -> author -> name),
  ...
  	}
  }
  ...
  $output = {results => $result};

  return JSON::XS -> new -> utf8(0) -> encode($output);