Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King, has been named the winner of the 2026 International Booker Prize. The announcement was made at a ceremony held at Tate Modern's Turbine Hall in London on 19 May, marking a historic moment for the award.
The victory is the first for a Taiwanese author and for a translator of Taiwanese-American heritage, and it is also the first time a book translated from Mandarin Chinese has claimed the prize. The £50,000 prize money will be divided equally between author and translator. Chair of judges Natasha Brown called the novel 'a love letter to translation' that 'pulls off an incredible double feat: it succeeds as both a romance and an incisive postcolonial novel.'
Yáng paid tribute to her translator, saying: 'I honestly had nothing to do with us winning with this book. It's not about me.' She added that she could not have won 'without Lin translating the book.' The win also marks the second consecutive International Booker Prize for publisher And Other Stories, following last year's success with Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq.
Set in 1930s Taiwan, the novel follows Aoyama, a Japanese writer and colonial visitor, who becomes infatuated with her local translator, nicknamed Chi-chan. Through Chi-chan, Aoyama observes Taiwanese cuisine and culture with an air of superiority, marvelling at the supposed benefits of Japanese imperial rule. The local people, however, view her with condescension, a dynamic that highlights the blind spots of a 'friendly coloniser.'
The novel includes a striking confrontation in which a government official, Mishima, challenges Aoyama's praise of the Empire, accusing her of valuing the island's flavours for their exoticism rather than their taste, and calling her claims of broader significance 'a sign of intellectual arrogance.' The historical context of colonial rule made such criticism a matter of life and death, as liberty was often curtailed for those who spoke out.
