Transcending boundaries: translating and publishing Taiwan's humanities and social science research in the UK
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
- Venue
- SOAS Main Building
- Room
- DLT
- Event type
- Launch
About this event
The Centre of Taiwan Studies at SOAS is delighted to host a book launch roundtable celebrating the UK publications of a three-year international translation project supported by Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) and the National Museum of Taiwan Literature (NMTL).
Collaborating with institutions and partners from Taiwan and Europe, the project brings together translated publications of Taiwanese humanities, social science research and literature for international audiences.
The event will showcase three English-language anthologies: Isle of the Austronesian (2025), Isle of Movement (2026) and Isle of All Beings (2026), exploring the themes of Indigeneity, migration, and ecology in Taiwan. Chaired by Dr Ti-han Chang, Deputy Director of the Centre of Taiwan Studies and co-editor of the series, the roundtable will bring together Dr Hsieh Hsin-chin, UK English-translation project lead and co-editor; Taiwan Indigenous writer Ma Yi-hang; and Tung Roh-suan Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Balestier Press Europe Ltd.
The speakers will reflect on the intellectual and creative processes behind these publications, and consider how translation and international publishing can transcend linguistic, cultural and disciplinary boundaries, bringing Taiwan’s diverse voices and knowledge traditions into wider academic and literary conversations in the UK and beyond.
Image credit: Winston Chen via Unsplash.
About the speakers
Hsieh Hsin-Chin is Associate Professor at the Graduate Institute of Taiwan Literature, National Taiwan University. Her research focuses on documentary studies, contemporary Taiwan literature and film, migration studies, and transmedia narrative, with a particular interest in the intersections of cultural production and migration.
Chang Ti-Han is a Senior Teaching Fellow in the MA Taiwan Studies at SOAS University of London. She previously lectured in Asia Pacific Studies at the University of Lancashire. Her research focuses on contemporary Taiwanese eco-literature, with broader interests in postcolonial studies and critical theory. Her publications explore nonhuman agency, borders and nations, climate change, and migration. She has co-edited several volumes and translation anthologies, including A Transdisciplinary Study of Global Displacement: Identities on the Move (Springer, 2024), Reorientating Taiwan: Ocean, Selfhood and the Pacific (Brill, 2025), A Taiwanese Ecoliterature Reader (Columbia, 2025), and Isle of the Austronesian (Balestier, 2025).
Ma Yi-Hang is an Indigenous writer and Assistant Professor in the Department of Sinophone Literatures, National Dong Hwa University. He was the chief editor of Youth Literary Monthly. His literary work, 《假城鎮》The Potemkin Village (2024), was awarded for the 2025 Taiwan Literature Awards.
Roh-Suan Tung is Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Balestier Press, an independent publisher of contemporary world literature, with offices in London and Tallinn. The press promotes diverse global voices and literature in translation, while its scholarly imprint, Balestier Academic, publishes peer-reviewed humanities and social science research, particularly from underrepresented fields. Balestier Press publishes the Isle series of Taiwanese humanities and literary anthologies. Its authors, translators and illustrators include Taiwanese poet Ling Yü, winner of the 2025 Newman Prize for Chinese Literature, and illustrator Cai Gao, winner of the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Award. Its translators have received international recognition and support.
