Taipei: Yang Shuang-zi's novel, "Taiwan Travelogue," has been longlisted for the prestigious International Booker Prize for translated fiction. The award's organizers made the announcement on Tuesday, highlighting the novel's unique narrative that captures a same-sex romance between a Japanese author and her local interpreter in 1930s Taiwan.
According to Focus Taiwan, the judges praised the novel as both "a delicious romance and an incisive postcolonial novel." Yang expressed hope that this recognition will boost confidence in Taiwanese literature on an international stage, emphasizing that stories from Taiwan are equally vibrant and impactful globally.
This accomplishment follows the footsteps of Wu Ming-yi, who was longlisted in 2018 for his novel "The Stolen Bicycle." Yang believes this trend will continue and foresees more Taiwanese authors being recognized by such international accolades in the future.
Lin King, the English translator of "Taiwan Travelogue," shared her honor in seeing the English edition, published over a year ago, continue to engage readers worldwide. She extended gratitude towards the International Booker Prize and "Taiwan Travelogue's" U.K. publisher, And Other Stories, for their roles in bringing Taiwanese narratives to a broader audience.
The International Booker Prize, an annual U.K. award, celebrates translated fiction with a monetary prize of £50,000, approximately NT$2.1 million, shared equally between the author and translator. For the current year, 13 titles were chosen from 128 submissions for the longlist. The shortlisting of six finalists is set for March 31, with the final winner being declared in London on May 19.