Jozev Kiu

Kiu began to write Wuxia fiction and completed his first novel, The Unparalleled Statesman (Chinese: 國士無雙), during his university years.[2] Kiu published his debut novel The Blade of the Phantom Kingdom (Chinese: 幻國之刃) in 1996, and he began to receive public attention. He later also wrote The Vampire Hunter’s Diaries (Chinese: 吸血鬼獵人日誌) and The Killing Zen (Chinese: 殺禪), of which the latter took Kiu ten years to finish.[2] The lengthy writing process earned him the nickname of “Hong Kong’s greatest procrastinating writer” (Chinese: 香江第一遲筆).[2]

In 2008, he started another novel series, Blood and Steel (Chinese: 武道狂之詩), and published it online. The series was generally perceived as a milestone of the reformed Hong Kong Wuxia genre as it differed from the traditional Wuxia fiction which put emphasis on the code of chivalry and Chinese traditions.[6] Besides, Kiu was also one of the few Wuxia novelists who possessed a martial arts background, and the realistic action sequences in the novel series received universal praise.[1] After the success of Blood and Steel, Kiu was widely regarded as a leading figure of the New Wuxia genre in the post-Jin Yong era.[1]

Kiu had also composed lyrics for Cantopop songs since 1998. He won the Yearly Best Lyricist Prize of the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong in 2000 with Candy Lo's Dark Blue (Chinese: 深藍).[7]

Kiu is skilled in karate, Wing Chun and Eskrima.[2] Kiu began to learn karate when he was 15 and obtained a brown belt.[8] He began to practice Eskrima in 2009 and participated in several international competitions.[9] He had also received professional training in the Philippines in 2012,[9] and served as a guest host of the RTHK martial arts documentary series, Kung Fu Quest (Chinese: 功夫傳奇), for several years.[8] He also co-founded and taught at Kalis Brotherhood, an Eskrima coaching school.[10]