Writer Lee Chiao, whose real name is Li Nengchi, was born in 1934 in northern Taiwan in Miaoli County to a family of Hakka nationality. After studying pedagogy, he taught in primary and secondary schools for many years. In the past, he also worked as the editor-in-chief of the literary magazine Taiwan Literature and Art, as well as the chairman of the Taiwan PEN Club and an adviser to President Chen Shuibien. He is currently a member of the Hakka Cultural Affairs Committee.
Lee Chiao is the author of more than two hundred short stories and a number of novels, the most famous of which is the Cold Night trilogy. In addition to fiction, he also published ten volumes of cultural and literary criticism, as well as poetry, drama and biography. In the Czech Republic, the first translation of his short story was published in 2006 in the anthology The Taste of Apples. He won numerous awards for his work.