Taiwan Travelogue: The First Mandarin Novel to Win the International Booker Prize
Yáng Shuāng-Zǐ and translator Lin King said the win highlights Taiwan’s diverse literary voices, not a single book, after the novel won the 2026 prize.
- On Tuesday, author Yang Shuang-zi and translator Lin King received the 2026 International Booker Prize for Taiwan Travelogue at a ceremony at London's Tate Modern.
- Set in 1930s Japanese-occupied Taiwan, the novel follows Japanese novelist Aoyama Chizuko and her local interpreter on a culinary journey, exploring themes of identity and colonial power.
- The book is the first work translated from Mandarin Chinese to win the award in its 10-year history, securing the $93,000 Cdn prize split between author and translator.
- Chair of the judging panel Natasha Brown praised the work as an "incredible double feat," stating it succeeds as "both a romance and an incisive postcolonial novel."
- Yang noted the award sparks discussions on "What is Taiwanese?" and expressed hope that more of the island's diverse literary voices will reach global audiences.
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11 Articles
International Booker winner Yang Shuang-zi: "Taiwan lost confidence in its culture"
This week, Taiwan Travelogue, a book rejected multiple times by publishers as it was deemed untranslatable, won the International Booker Prize. It was a historic first for Taiwan, and for a book written originally in Mandarin Chinese. Conversations about Taiwan in the Western world today are often dominated by questions around the island’s relationship with China, an issue which has been in debate for over half a century. But Yang Shuang-zi’s la…
The combination of themes — a lesbian relationship, a Japanese protagonist, the colonial past not portrayed as trauma, and Taiwanese identity itself — makes the book "unpublishable" in China.
International Booker Prize winner says 'no story is too niche' amid historic win
Taiwan Travelogue has made International Booker history. Author Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and translator Lin King discuss using the English language as a powerful tool to counter colonialism.
Booker Prize winners bring Taiwan's many voices to the world
London, May 21 (CNA) "Taiwan Travelogue" was the first Taiwanese novel to win the prestigious International Booker Prize, but the work's author and translator insisted that no single book could ever represent the whole of Taiwanese literature.
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