Stephan Thome was born in Biedenkopf/Germany in 1972. Having obtained a degree in China Studies and Philosophy, he worked as a researcher and teacher before becoming a full-time fiction writer after the publication of his first novel Grenzgang (2009). Three of his books were shortlisted for the German Book Prize, in 2014 he was awarded the Art Prize for Literature by the Fine Arts Academy in Berlin. Thome currently lives in Taipei.