Following hard on the heels of the Lunar New Year holiday, the 2009 Taipei International Book Exhibition (2009台北國際書展) opens at the Taipei World Trade Center (台北世貿中心) on Wednesday and runs until Feb. 9. Exhibition organizers are undaunted by the world’s economic woes. Taipei Book Fair Foundation (財團法人台北書展基金會) chairman Lin Tsai-chueh (林載爵) joked that it would be a perfect opportunity to put recently issued consumer vouchers to good use.
As with many past Taipei International Book Exhibition events, there will be a wealth of international books on display, with the focus this year on German, French and Thai authors, some of whom will be visiting Taipei to promote their work and give readings from their novels.
Among the most exciting guests will be the young German novelist Juli Zeh, whose Adler und Engel (“Eagles and Angels”) won the 2002 Deutscher Bucherpreis for best debut novel. An expert on international law who has worked with the UN, her published works range from psychological thrillers to children’s books, and she has garnered critical acclaim as one of the most original young voices coming out of Germany.
Zeh, though only 34, has been extensively translated, a fact that has contributed to her rapidly growing international reputation.
Translation is a major theme at the exhibition, which will be highlighted in a presentation by Clemens-Peter Haase, head of the Department Literature and Translation Promotion at the Goethe Institute, who has been active in bringing German authors to a wider reading public. The distinguished Austrian writer and translator Herbert Maurer will also be part of the German delegation.
In the Thai pavilion, one of the young authors to be featured will be Tawara Siripipat, a 23-year-old whose writings under the name Dr Pop have already earned him the title of “Prince of Sci-fi Fantasy” in his home country.
In addition to the main featured nations, the exhibition is introducing an international smorgasbord section to highlight the diversity of international book and music publishing.
While Hall One of the World Trade Center is dedicated to literature, Halls Two and Three focus on the interests of children and young people. Hall Two hosts the ever-popular section dedicated to graphic works such as comics, anime and manga, and Hall Three is devoted to children’s publishing and features dinosaur and woolly mammoth fossils and games.
While the exhibition’s focus is primarily on conventional publishing, this year, in a nod to the growing power of the Internet, it plays host to representatives from eight digital publishing or book distribution companies based in the US, including NetLibrary and the Online Computer Library Center. At the other end of the publishing spectrum is the display of outstanding book design, which includes works by 40 contemporary Chinese artists as well as winners of prestigious awards such as the Japan Book Design Concours, Korean Book Design Now and Taiwan’s Golden Butterfly Award (台灣－書籍設計金蝶獎回顧).
The 2009 Taipei International Book Exhibition officially opens on Feb. 4. Hall One will be restricted to trade representatives and disabled persons on the first day. Opening hours are from 10am to 6pm on Feb. 4, Feb. 5 and Feb. 9, and from 10am to 10pm from Feb. 6 through Feb. 8. Admission is NT$100 on weekdays and NT$180 on Friday and weekends. Admission after 6pm is NT$50. Children under 120cm get in free. Comprehensive details of the event can be found at www.tibe.org.tw/2009.
Taiwan’s English education system is being pulled apart by three opposing forces. Bilingual Nation 2030 pulls students toward English and global communication. Artificial Intelligence (AI) readiness pulls them toward digital judgment, verification and AI-mediated work. But Taiwan’s old exam culture pulls them back toward memorization, grammar drills, timed reading and correct answers. If the education system keeps using old exams to define success, it risks producing graduates who are neither genuinely bilingual nor genuinely AI-ready, but trained for tasks machines can already perform. The first force is Bilingual Nation 2030. Launched in 2018, the policy aimed to “help Taiwan’s workforce connect
It seems every few days one bumps into one of those “real man” comments in which Taiwan is urged to “face reality” or similar, and “make a deal,” with the speaker implying that soon it will be too late. “Deal” advocates always present themselves as having a superior grip on reality, and the manly ability to make the “hard choice.” Their testosterone-laden language often echoes that of Taiwan sellout advocates. Note that such commentary always specifies a process (“make a deal, work with, make progress”), never the end state of what occupation by a violent authoritarian colonialist state will entail. In
There are shadowy cabals plotting to sell out Taiwan to be annexed by China, by invasion if necessary. Fortunately, they are buffoons. In 2019, former Bamboo Union gangster and founder of the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP), Chang An-le (張安樂, colorfully known as “White Wolf”), led a protest at the Legislative Yuan against comments made by then-premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) that in the event of an attack by China, he would never surrender, but would protect the nation by fighting to the end, even if he only had a broom. Chang had party members bring a wooden casket that they
June 1 to June 7 "If all Taiwanese were as afraid of dying as you, then what would happen?” Physician Shih Chiang-nan (施江南) reportedly said this to his wife Chen Chiao-tung (陳焦桐) after she urged him to stop intervening on behalf of Taiwanese soldiers stranded overseas after serving in the Japanese Army during World War II. Shih had clashed with high-ranking officials over the issue, engaged in several heated arguments with Taiwan governor-general Chen Yi (陳儀) and allegedly shouted at general Ko Yuan-fen (柯遠芬), chief of staff of the Taiwan Garrison Command, over
RSS