Literature’s Compound Eyes:

Wu Ming-yi (b. 1971), who has been preoccupied with writing for more than 30 years, is always gazing into the far distance.

A versatile writer

In 1997 Wu published his first book, We’re Closed Today. Another early short story collection would follow in 2003: Grandfather Tiger.

Ever fascinated by the natural environment, he ventured into nature writing and penned numerous non-fiction books, including The Book of Lost Butterflies (2000), The Dao of Butterflies (2003), and So Much Water So Close to Home (2007).

People assumed that Wu, who had garnered critical acclaim in nature writing, would continue to plow that field. However, looking upon literary fiction as his true calling, he went on to pursue a wonderfully innovative path by combining environmental concerns with historical materials to forge new forms of novelistic narrative.

Inspired by Taiwan’s youth laborers during World War II, his Routes in the Dream (2007) was selected by Yazhou Zhoukan as one of the ten best Chinese-­language works of fiction of 2007. 

Compared by international critics to Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Man with the Compound Eyes (2011) weaves together Indigenous culture and environmental issues such as marine debris. The novel won the Prix du Livre Insulaire in France in 2004 and was nominated for the Seiun Award in Japan in 2022. It has also been adapted for the stage in a production directed by Lukas Hemleb, a German director who is a recipient of the Taiwan–France Cultural Award.

The Illusionist on the Skywalk (2011) is set against the backdrop of Taipei’s now-demolished Chunghwa Market. This short story collection was nominated for the Émile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature in 2018. Comic artist Ruan Guang-min has adapted it into a graphic novel, and Taiwan Public Television Service has turned it into a drama series, directed by Yang Ya-che.

Exploring the craft of bicycle making through the lens of Taiwanese history, The Stolen Bicycle (2015) was longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2018—the first Taiwanese book to receive this distinction.

The Land of Little Rain (2019) pays tribute to Taiwan’s endemic species. Director Singing Chen has adapted one of the stories in this collection into a VR film, The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up (2025), which won the Venice Immersive Grand Prize at the Venice International Film Festival in 2025.

Wu Ming-yi, who enjoys interacting with readers, often attends international book fairs. This photo shows an event featuring him at the Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair in 2026. (courtesy of Wu Ming-yi)

The Sea Breeze Club (2023) illuminates the tensions between land development and environmental conservation and was named by Yazhou Zhoukan as one of the ten best Chinese-language works of fiction of 2023.

Just when he seemed to have reached the pinnacle of his literary career, Wu surprised readers by taking up the paintbrush. Drawing on one of the stories from The Sea Breeze Club, he created a picture book entitled The Three-Legged Crab-Eating Mongoose and the Giant (2025).

Among Taiwan’s mid-career writers, Wu stands out as the most widely translated and internationally honored, as well as being the most versatile in his cross-disciplinary practice.

Some literary critics have categorized Wu’s works as “neo-localist” or “post-localist” literature. For Wu, however, these labels don’t matter. He simply wishes to dedicate himself to the art of writing, which is his response to the world.

“Novels are written for the living. We don’t know whether our work will still hold any appeal in the future,” Wu says. “If a novelist isn’t writing, they are on the way to writing.”

He is always contemplating and exploring urgent contemporary matters, such as human longevity, ethics, genetic engineering, extraterrestrial life, inter­species relations, and space travel, paving the way for their realization in writing.

Writers work magic with words, conjuring magnificent universes of their own. Wu has created a literary forest as lush and verdant as nature itself, where readers are invited to embark on a journey into worlds beyond their ken. 

(left) Every time he starts a new writing project, Wu Ming-yi undertakes extensive research. While writing The Land of Little Rain, he consulted the expertise of tree-climber Weng Heng-bin. This photo shows Weng’s gift to Wu, a token of their friendship. (courtesy of Wu Ming-yi)

 (right)  As well as writing, Wu Ming-yi paints. He has published his own picture book, The Three-Legged Crab-Eating Mongoose and the Giant. (courtesy of Wu Ming-yi)