‘Taiwan Travelogue’ Wins International Booker Prize, Creates History As First Mandarin Winner

‘Taiwan Travelogue’ won the International Booker Prize on Tuesday and became the first book translated from Mandarin Chinese to receive the prestigious award. Written by Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi and translated into English by Taiwanese-American translator Lin King, the novel was announced as the winner at a ceremony held at the Tate Modern.

A Story Of Love, Food And history

Set in 1930s Taiwan, when the island was under Japanese colonial rule, Taiwan Travelogue follows two women on a culinary journey across Taiwan.

At its heart, it is a bittersweet story of forbidden love, but the novel also explores larger themes of history, colonialism, class, language, and power—all through the lens of food and travel.

What makes the book especially unique

is its inventive structure: it is presented as the fictional translation of a rediscovered Japanese travel memoir, complete with detailed footnotes. When it first appeared in 2020, many readers believed it was an actual historical text.

The Inspiration Behind The Novel

Speaking during the International Booker Prize interview, author Yang Shuang-zi revealed that the novel was inspired by Taiwan’s complex relationship with its colonial past.

She explained that while countries like South Korea often view Japanese colonial history with clear resentment, Taiwan’s relationship with that period is far more layered—marked by both discomfort and nostalgia.

Through a modern Taiwanese lens, she said, she wanted to “untangle the complex circumstances Taiwan’s people faced in the past” and ask an important question: what kind of future should Taiwan strive for?

A Writing Journey Fuelled By Food And Travel

Yang also shared a candid glimpse into her writing process.

The idea for the novel first came to her in 2017, when she drafted an outline and wrote the opening chapter. But she only began working on it seriously in February 2019, completing the first draft in just six months by August that year.

Researching the novel’s central themes—travel and food—had some personal side effects, she joked: “My savings went down; my weight went up.”

This is not the book’s first major honour. Taiwan Travelogue previously won the National Book Award for Translated Literature and the Baifang Schell Book Prize.

It has also been translated—or is set to be translated—into several languages, including Japanese, Korean, German, Italian, Dutch, Greek, Danish, Ukrainian, and Norwegian.

The International Booker Prize honours the best works of fiction translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. Its £50,000 prize is split equally between the author and translator, highlighting the importance of literary translation.

This year’s judging panel was chaired by author Natasha Brown, who praised the winning novel for its “artful exploration of language, history and power.”

With this landmark win, ‘Taiwan Travelogue’ has not only made history for Mandarin literature—it has also brought a uniquely Taiwanese story to the global literary stage.