Before engaging in writing full-time, Lai Hsiang-Yin pursued graduate studies in Japan, and worked in universities, bookstores, and museums. She is the recipient of numerous domestic honors including the Wu Zhuoliu Literary Prize and the Taiwan Literature Award. Now a resident of Berlin, her previous works include non-fiction such as Love Before Daybreak: Taiwanese Literary Landscapes Under Japanese Rule; the novel Afterwards; the short story collections Island, The Death of a Literary Youth, and Landscapes in the Mist; and Prehistoric Life, a collection of essays.