The Surveillance

What is it like living under an oppressive regime? How does an individual survive it? Should one rebel or compromise? What will be the consequences of resisting the power, and what will be the price of obeying it?

Taiwan had been under the rule by Martial Law for 38 years(1949 1987), during this period of time, all publications were under strict censorship, public gatherings must apply for permits in advance, opinions against the ruler were silenced, demands for democracy were repressed. Worst of all, dissidents were persecuted.

The 13 stories in this book are about the lives of ordinary people without freedom of expression or complete political rights, and what decisions they might make while faced with a dilemma. Additionally, these stories investigate the role of literary works in a society with all kinds of political taboos.

About the Author

C.J. Anderson-Wu (吳介禎) is a Taiwanese writer and literary activist whose work examines historical trauma, transitional justice, and human rights. Her collections Impossible to Swallow (2017) and The Surveillance (2021) explore scars left by the White Terror. Endangered Youth-Taiwan, Hong Kong, Ukraine (2025) broadens her scope, while her poetry Clear My Name was shortlisted for the Flying Island Poetry Manuscript Contest. Her novella The Sixth Man will appear in 2026.

Her work has been recognized internationally, including awards from the Strands Lit International Flash Fiction Competition, the International Human Rights Art Festival, the Writers' Mastermind Contest, the Invisible City Blurred Genre Competition, Wordweavers Literature Contest, and Premio Letterario Internazionale Citt di Arona.