Taiwanese Writers Who Write in Coffee Shops

Taipei isn’t just a city of tea houses and night markets — it’s also a city where generations of writers have turned to cafés to do their most serious work. Not for the ambience, but for space, for air, for a cigarette, and for the kind of loose focus that comes from sitting among strangers. When acclaimed novelist Lu Yiqing was asked for an interview at his home study, he declined. Instead, he led the reporter to a tiny neighborhood spot called Cozy on Qingtian Street — a place with an awning, outdoor seating, and just enough room to think.

More than a dozen well-known Taiwanese authors regularly write in cafés, not out of romance, but necessity. Most cite cramped living conditions, strict indoor smoking bans, and the high cost of urban housing as the reason they’ve made cafés their de facto workplaces.

Why Taiwanese Writers Write in Cafés

Lu Yiqing rents a 40–50 square meter apartment in Taipei with four other people and two large dogs. Before that, he lived in a rural house with more room, but moved to the city for his wife’s job and his children’s education. "It’s impossible for people of our generation to buy an apartment in the city by writing alone," he said. Print runs for literary books in Taiwan have also plummeted — where authors once sold tens of thousands of copies, now most new releases print just 1,000 to 2,000 copies, if they’re lucky.

Unlike Beijing or Shanghai, Taipei developed more gradually. That slower urbanization allowed a culture of small, affordable cafés to flourish. For writers like Lu, who says even going to a pub feels like a luxury, spending about 30 RMB on a few peaceful hours in a café is the most realistic option. These cafés have become a kind of shared urban studio — a place where aspiring filmmakers, struggling freelancers, and published novelists alike can sit for hours with a notebook or laptop.

The Cafés Where Lu Yiqing Writes

Lu has a rotation of about three or four regular spots where he does his most focused writing. All have outdoor seating or small courtyards — essential, because indoor smoking is banned in Taipei, and he can’t write without a cigarette. His go-tos include:

• Juliano’s and IKEA Café near National Taiwan University in the Wenzhou Street alley
• Rabbit Listening to Music and Cozy on Qingtian Street near his apartment

These places are usually quiet, not overly crowded, and offer enough open space for a writer to settle in with a notebook or laptop for hours. "The most important work I’ve done in recent years was written in cafés," Lu said.

His Real ‘Study’ — A Tiny, Overstuffed Apartment Room

Despite writing in cafés most of the time, Lu does have a designated study at home — though it’s barely functional. The room is roughly 4–5 square meters, crammed with books stacked floor to ceiling, spilling off shelves and piling in corners. What was once a carefully organized library has collapsed into chaos. "I used to arrange the books neatly when we first moved in, but over the years, I just kept stacking them wherever there was space," he said.

The room also holds medications, herbal supplements from his mother, and piles of paper — including manuscripts and unpaid bills. Bookshelves sag under the weight of unreadable layers, and the desk is often buried. "It looks more like a junk shop or the home of a homeless book collector," he joked. Despite the mess, it’s still where he keeps his most-read titles.

The Books He Reads Over and Over

Lu’s go-to authors and re-reads include:

• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
• If on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino
• Works by Jorge Luis Borges, Haruki Murakami, Kenzaburō Ōe, J.M. Coetzee, and Yasunari Kawabata
• The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, The Magus by John Fowles
• The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch, and several works by Fyodor Dostoevsky

In the past year, he estimates buying around 200 new books. Among them, Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 (a gift from a publisher) made the strongest impression. When traveling, he typically brings works like Jean Baudrillard’s On Seduction and Yi Yi’s The Bird Saw Me.

The Ideal Writing Space (And Why He Can’t Have It)

Lu doesn’t consider his current study ideal. He misses the old makeshift writing room in the countryside — a 20-square-meter tin-roofed shack with a view of the mountains and a stream, where he could spread out his books and write for hours in peace. "I could sit at that desk all morning and not feel boxed in," he recalled. He prefers writing at a simple table, without a computer, and often finds hotel rooms with desks to be unexpectedly productive.

"I don’t need luxury. Just a clear space, a good chair, and no one asking me to tidy up. Somewhere I can walk away to the street below when I need air. That’s the ideal," he said.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which cafés in Taipei do Taiwanese writers like Lu Yiqing usually write in?

Lu Yiqing often writes at Rabbit Listening to Music and Cozy on Qingtian Street, as well as Juliano’s and IKEA Café near National Taiwan University. All have outdoor seating, are relatively quiet, and allow smoking — a key factor since he can't write indoors due to Taipei’s strict no-smoking rules.

Why do so many Taiwanese writers choose to work in cafés instead of at home?

Most cite small living spaces, urban crowding, and Taiwan’s strict indoor smoking bans. With print runs for literary books now often as low as 1,000–2,000 copies, many writers also live in cramped apartments shared with family or roommates, leaving little room or peace for focused work.

What is Lu Yiqing’s home writing space like?

Lu’s apartment study is around 4–5 square meters, extremely crowded with books, medications, and manuscripts. Shelves are overflowing, the desk is buried, and the room also holds his family’s herbal supplements. He describes it as resembling a junk shop or homeless library, but it’s where he keeps his most-referenced books.

What books does Lu Yiqing read repeatedly?

He frequently re-reads works by Gabriel García Márquez, Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, Haruki Murakami, Kenzaburō Ōe, J.M. Coetzee, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Other favorites include Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, and John Fowles’ The Magus.

Does Lu Yiqing buy books online or in physical bookstores?

Lu exclusively shops for books in physical bookstores. He mentions frequenting stores near National Taiwan University and the Eslite chain, and says he has never bought a book online.

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