'Taiwan Travelogue' in conversation

The Centre of Taiwan Studies is delighted to welcome novelist Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and translator Lin King for a conversation on Taiwan Travelogue, shortlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize, on historical fiction, translation, and the global reach of Taiwanese literature.

On the eve of the 2026 International Booker Prize announcement, this event will centre on Taiwan Travelogue as a work of historical imagination and literary experimentation. Framed through a journey across colonial-era Taiwan, the novel interweaves food writing, travel narrative, and layered storytelling to explore questions of identity, language, and cultural memory. Yáng will reflect on the research and creative process behind the novel, including her engagement with Taiwan’s multilingual and colonial past, as well as the narrative strategies that shape its distinctive voice.

The conversation will also foreground the role of translation in bringing the text to an international readership. Lin King will discuss her approach to translating the novel’s stylistic shifts, humour, and cultural references, offering insight into the collaborative dimensions of author–translator relationships and the challenges of rendering Taiwanese historical and linguistic textures into English.

Taking place just before of the prize announcement, this event offers a timely opportunity to engage with one of the most discussed works on the 2026 International Booker shortlist, while situating it within broader conversations on world literature, translation, and the global circulation of Taiwanese writing.

Image credit: Teng Yuhong via Unsplash.