Taiwan Travelogue, a love letter to food and adventure, wins International Booker Prize
Summary
The book Taiwan Travelogue, a novel about two women exploring Taiwanese food and love during Japan’s rule in the 1930s, won the International Booker Prize. It is the first novel translated from Mandarin Chinese to receive this award.Key Facts
- Taiwan Travelogue was written by Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi and translated into English by Taiwanese-American Lin King.
- The story follows a Japanese writer and a Taiwanese translator who fall in love while traveling across Taiwan.
- The novel was first published in 2020 and is framed as a fictional travel memoir with added footnotes.
- It explores themes like love, culture, colonial history, and power.
- Yang’s original Mandarin version won Taiwan’s Golden Tripod Award in 2021.
- Lin King’s English translation won the National Book Award for Translated Literature in 2024.
- The International Booker Prize award money (£50,000) will be shared equally between the author and translator.
- The judges praised the translation and the novel’s balance of sorrow and joy during a difficult historical period.
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