Wang Wenxing (Chinese: 王文興; pinyin: Wáng Wénxìng; Wade–Giles: Wang Wen-hsing) was born in Fuzhou, Fujian, in 1939 and grew up in Taiwan. He obtained a BA in Foreign Languages and Literatures from National Taiwan University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He returned to NTU's Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures to teach, retiring in 2005 at the rank of Professor.
His first novel, Family Catastrophe (Chinese: 家變; pinyin: Jiābiàn), was published in 1972, a story about a runaway father and a son who takes over the household in his stead. He has also published a novel entitled Bei Hai De Ren (Backed Against the Sea) as well as several collections of short stories.