Taiwan Travelogue, a love letter to food and adventure, wins International Booker Prize
The judges praised the novel’s layered translation and postcolonial themes, and the author and translator will split the £50,000 prize.
- On Tuesday, Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi and Taiwanese-American translator Lin King won the International Booker Prize for Taiwan Travelogue, the first novel translated from Mandarin Chinese to win in the award's 10-year history.
- Set in 1930s Japan-occupied Taiwan, the novel follows a Japanese author and her local interpreter on a culinary tour, using a fictional memoir format to explore colonial power dynamics and forbidden love.
- Judges praised the 'captivating, slyly sophisticated' book for succeeding as both a romance and an incisive postcolonial novel, with the authors sharing the £50,000 prize money equally.
- Sheffield-Based publisher And Other Stories produced the winning entry, marking their second consecutive victory after last year's Heat Lamp, with the novel beating 128 other submissions.
- Yang intended to "untangle the complex circumstances" of Taiwan's history, believing humans find "flickers of levity and deep wells of love" even in difficult times, challenging readers to reconsider colonial narratives.
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54 Articles
Taiwan Travelogue: The first Mandarin novel to win the International Booker Prize
Taiwan Travelogue, a poignant tale of love and colonialism by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, made history as the first Mandarin novel to win the International Booker Prize, highlighting the intricate relationship between personal and political narratives,
The author Yang Shuang-zi won the International Booker Prize with his novel "Taiwan Travelogue", a first for a book in Mandarin.
First Time for Taiwan: Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s ‘Taiwan Travelogue’ Wins International Booker Prize
London: In a landmark moment for Taiwanese letters, author Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and translator Lin King have been awarded the 2026 International Booker Prize for Taiwan Travelogue, the first time a work from Taiwan -- and the first originally written in Mandarin Chinese -- has claimed
This year's International Booker Prize goes to the Taiwanese writer Yang Shuang-zi for the English translation of her novel "Taiwan Travelogue". Two Germans were also on the shortlist for the prize.
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