Taiwan novel on International Booker Prize shortlist for first time

Taipei/London, April 1 (CNA) "Taiwan Travelogue," a novel by Taiwanese writer Yang Shuang-zi (楊双子), is among the six shortlisted titles for the 2026 International Booker Prize, the first time a Taiwanese author has reached the final stage of the prestigious award.

The Booker Prize Foundation on Tuesday announced the six finalists chosen from a longlist of 13 titles, which had been narrowed down from an initial 128 submissions.

The annual prize recognizes works of fiction translated into English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. Author-translator pairs who make the shortlist will receive £5,000 (US$6,620) and the winners, to be announced on May 19, will split a £50,000 grand prize.

The foundation said the novel's appearance on the shortlist represented the first time a Taiwanese writer had made the cut and that a victory for the novel would represent a historic first for Taiwan.

According to the foundation, this year's shortlist features writers and translators from eight countries: Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, France and Germany.

Five of the six shortlisted authors and four of the six shortlisted translators are women, and the selected works were originally written in five languages: Chinese, Bulgarian, French, German and Portuguese.

First published in 2020, "Taiwan Travelogue" is set in 1938 and is a work of historical fiction that explores friendship and colonial identity through a culinary journey across Taiwan.

It has been translated into several languages, including Japanese, English and Korean.

Its English translator, Lin King (金翎), previously won the U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature for her work on the novel -- also a first for Taiwanese literature.

In Taipei, Culture Minister Li Yuan (李遠) congratulated Yang, thanking her for helping bring Taiwan to global attention through literature.

The Ministry of Culture said in a statement that the novel's path to international success was supported by government initiatives, including a youth creative grant and a translation funding program.

Furthermore, the cultural division of the Taipei Representative Office in the United Kingdom is planning a series of literary talks and book signings across Britain later this year that will feature Yang and King.