Taiwan Travelogue, written by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and translated by Lin King, has won the 2026 International Booker Prize, given annually to an outstanding work of fiction translated into English and published in the U.K. or Ireland.
The novel, released in the U.S. by Graywolf in 2024, follows the relationship between a young Japanese novelist and the interpreter who assists her when she travels to Taiwan in 1938. A critic for Kirkus called the book, which won the National Book Award for translated literature, “a moving account of friendship in the shadow of the Japanese Southern Expansion policy.” It is the first book originally written in Mandarin Chinese to win the International Booker Prize.
Natasha Brown, the chair of judges for the award, said, “Taiwan Travelogue pulls off an incredible double feat: it succeeds as both a romance and an incisive postcolonial novel. As judges, we’ve enjoyed rich discussions about the many layers of this book. It’s a captivating, slyly sophisticated novel.”
In her acceptance speech, interpreted by King, Yáng said, “Taiwan’s people have endured multiple colonial regimes, and faced threats of invasion. When confronted by geopolitical forces so much greater than our own, what use do we have for literature? But I, at least, have always believed that literature wields power. Literature appears slow, but it acts with steady resolve. It is often quiet, but manages to spread ideas far and wide.”
The International Booker Prize, established in 2005, comes with a cash award of 50,000 British pounds, about $66,000, split equally between the author and translator. Previous winners include Tomb of Sand, written by Geetanjali Shree and translated by Daisy Rockwell, and Kairos, written by Jenny Erpenbeck and translated by Michael Hofmann.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
