Gan Yao-Ming majored Chinese literature in Tunghai University and earned a master’s degree in Creative Writing from the Dept. of English Literature, National Dong Hwa University. Before becoming a full-time fiction writer, Gan had worked as a reporter, a middle school teacher, and a playwright of a small theater. 

Widely recognized as one of the best authors of his generation, Gan Yao-Ming has received various literary awards, including the United Daily News Literature Prize, the Lin Rong-San Literature Prize, Wu Zhuo-liu Literature Prize, and the United Daily New Novelist Prize. 

In 2010, his novel Killing Ghosts won the Award of Taipei International Book Fair, and in 2015, his The Pangcah Girl won the First Prize of Taiwan Literary Award, which is deemed the highest honor for literary writers in Taiwan.