Gu Byeong-mo was born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1976. She made her literary debut in 2009 when her novel WIZARD BAKERY won the second Changbi Prize for Young Adult Fiction. Her 2015 short-story collection GEUGEOSI NAMANEUN ANIGIREUL received the Today's Writer Award and Hwang Sun-won New Writers' Award. Her work THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE was translated into 12 languages, and adapted into a feature film in 2025. Her other prominent works include THE BOY WITH GILLS and A SPOONFUL OF TIME.