Pen Name: 寺尾哲也
Chinese Name: 曹盛濠
Born: 1988
Birthplace: Taipei (Northern Taiwan)
Did You Know That…?
Terao Tetsuya is the pen name of Tsao Cheng-hao (曹盛濠). It was inspired by the main characters of two of his favorite mangas—Koichi Terao from “Over Drive” and Tetsuya Kuroko from “Kuroko’s Basketball.” As a devoted manga enthusiast, he developed a passion for storytelling and began writing fan fiction based on “Hunter x Hunter” during junior high school.
Terao Tetsuya developed an interest in programming during high school and went on to study computer science at National Taiwan University (NTU), a prestigious university in Taiwan. He later pursued a master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon University in the U.S. and was subsequently employed by Google, fulfilling the dream of many by becoming a software engineer in Silicon Valley. During his eight years at the company, he was stationed in both San Francisco and Tokyo.
2019 was a pivotal year for Terao Tetsuya, as he received the second prize in Short Novel at the Lin Rong San Literary Awards (州際公路) for “Interstate Highway (州際公路).” However, years of working under high-pressure conditions took a toll on his health. This led him to reconsider his future and, in 2021, he made the decision to leave his job as an engineer. He became a full-time writer, turning his focus to introspection and reflection on his past.
In his writing, he explores the struggles of elite professionals. He wrote a story showing a genius programmer at NTU who becomes the target of envy—so much so that others wish to see him destroyed. Meanwhile, a Silicon Valley engineer, earning a handsome salary yet trapped in his own success, reduced to a lifeless machine. Through his narratives, Tetsuya examines the loneliness of climbing the elite ladder and how too much ambition can twist the mind into darkness.
In 2022, his first short novel collection “Spent Bullets (子彈是餘生)” was published. The book follows computer science students at NTU, as they navigate intense competition. Under constant pressure, their mental health deteriorates, ultimately driving one character—perceived as a “monster”—to take his own life.
Noteworthy for his heartfelt storytelling, Terao Tetsuya has become one of Taiwan’s most popular writers. Despite having published only two books, he won the Golden Book Award and New Bud Award at the Taiwanese Literature Awards for Books in 2023. Moreover, the English and Korean rights of “Spent Bullets” have been sold to international publishers, and the book is set to be adapted for the screen.
Terao Tetsuya once remarked that he loves programming for its sheer rationality and writing for its pure sentimentality, noting that both are entirely artificial creations. In programming, a computer processes commands as written; similarly, in writing, readers interpret the words and experience a range of emotions. “I like to code; coding is pretty similar to writing,” he said.
