Los Angeles Times Festival of Books to showcase Taiwan novels

Taipei, April 25 (CNA) This year's Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will showcase 10 English-language versions of Taiwanese books curated by the Ministry of Culture (MOC), to raise the international profile of Taiwanese literature.

The event will take place on Saturday and Sunday (U.S. time) at the University of Southern California.

In a statement issued Thursday, the MOC said it has worked to export English-language versions of Taiwanese literary works for many years. The 10 titles represent a cross-section of excellent translations of Taiwanese literary works published over the past two years, it added.

The selected works include the 2024 American Book Award for Literary Translation winner "Taiwan Travelogue," by Yang Shuang-zi (楊雙子), translated by Lin King (金翎); "Ká-Sióng," a set of five distinctive chapbooks featuring writers and translators from Taiwan; and "Banana King Ngôo Tsín-suī" by Lee Wang-tai (李旺台), which has been longlisted for the 2025 PEN America Literary Awards in the PEN Translation Prize category.

The other titles are "Elephant Herd: A Novel" by Taiwan-based Malaysian author Zhang Guixing (張貴興), who won the Newman Prize for Chinese Literature in 2023; "Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird: The Art of Eastern Storytelling" by Taiwanese American author Henry Lien (連宏毅); and "Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl," a children's book by Taiwanese American author Erica Lee Schlaikjer that weaves together Taiwan's Indigenous Amis culture, heritage, history and language.

Lien will make an appearance at the festival on Saturday to interact with visitors and share stories about Taiwan, the MOC said.

The MOC's Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles said the festival, now in its 30th year, is one of the most prestigious book fairs in the U.S.

The event will also feature more than 500 authors, seminars, and performances, and is expected to attract around 150,000 visitors, the academy said.