The International Booker Prize ceremony took place at the Tate Modern in London, England, on 19/5. The novel by Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi and her English translator, Lin King, became the first work written in Mandarin to win the award. Shuang-zi and King are also the first Taiwanese and Taiwanese-Americans to receive this honor. The prize, valued at 50,000 GBP (over 1,7 billion VND), is split evenly between them.

'Taiwan Travelogue' was originally published in 2020. The story follows a Japanese novelist traveling and exploring cuisine in colonial Taiwan in 1938. Yang Shuang-zi wrote the work from the protagonist's perspective, structured as a memoir. Interwoven with her travel experiences is the developing relationship with her companion, a local interpreter, with whom she soon falls in love.

Author Yang Shuang-zi (left), 42, and translator Lin King, 33, at the 2026 International Booker Prize ceremony. Photo: Booker Prize Foundation

British author Natasha Brown, chair of the judging panel, described the plot as "compelling, subtly witty" in its exploration of language and power, featuring many unexpected twists. According to Brown, the book addresses issues of class and colonialism, while posing the question: Can love transcend power imbalances? Brown noted that the work "achieves an impossible dual feat: a captivating love story and a sharp post-colonial novel."

Beyond the main narrative, the book includes fictional annotations and afterwords by its characters. In the English edition, Taiwanese-American translator Lin King added notes to help international readers better understand the book's context. In Taiwan, 'Taiwan Travelogue' won the prestigious Golden Tripod literary award. This is also the first of Yang Shuang-zi's books to be translated into English. In the United States, the work won the 2024 National Book Award in the translation category.

The English edition was released in the US in 12/2024. Photo: Graywolf Press

Yang Shuang-zi, born in Taiwan in 1984, writes across various genres including novels, comics, video game scripts, and essays. In an interview with the International Booker organizers in March, she stated she began writing in the mid-1990s when romantic literature was flourishing in her homeland. "In middle school, my classmates and I formed a writing group. Among the five of us then, only I continued on this path," she said.

This year's shortlist included only one work by a male author, 'The Director' by Daniel Kehlman from Germany. The other nominees were: 'The Nights Are Quite in Tehran' by Shida Bazyar (Germany), 'She Who Remains' by Rene Karabash (Bulgaria), 'On Earth As It Is Beneath' by Ana Paula Maia (Brazil), and 'The Witch' by Marie NDiaye (France).

The International Booker Prize was first established in 2005, awarded annually for a novel or collection of short stories originally written in any language, translated into English, and published in the UK or Ireland. Last year's winning work was the short story collection 'Heart Lamp' by Indian author Banu Mushtaq and translator Deepa Bhasthi.

In addition to the International Booker Prize, the British literary scene also features the Booker Prize, established in 1968. Formerly known as Booker-McConnell or The Man Booker, it is considered the most prestigious literary award in the English-speaking world. Since 2014, the organizers have allowed novels written in English by foreign authors and published in the UK to contend for the award.

Trinh Lam (according to AP, Guardian)