This year’s Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is to showcase 10 English-language versions of Taiwanese books curated by the Ministry of Culture to raise the international profile of Taiwanese literature. The event is taking place today and tomorrow at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
The ministry in a statement said that it has worked to export English-language versions of Taiwanese literary works for many years and the 10 titles represent a cross section of excellent translations of Taiwanese literary works published over the past two years.
The selected works include last year’s American Book Award for Literary Translation winner Taiwan Travelogue (臺灣漫遊錄) by Yang Shuang-zi (楊雙子), translated by Lin King (金翎); Ka-Siong (假想), a set of five distinctive books featuring writers and translators from Taiwan; and Banana King Ngoo Tsin-Sui (蕉王吳振瑞) by Lee Wang-tai (李旺台), which has been shortlisted for this year’s PEN America Literary Awards in the PEN Translation Prize category.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Culture via CNA
The latter was translated by Timothy Smith, who is also a translator for the Taipei Times.
The other titles are Elephant Herd: A Novel (群象) by Taiwan-based Malaysian author Zhang Guixing (張貴興), who won the 2023 Newman Prize for Chinese Literature; Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird: The Art of Eastern Storytelling (春天、夏天、小行星、鳥、東方說故事的藝術) by Taiwanese-American author Henry Lien (連宏毅); and Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl (野菜姑娘), a children’s book by Taiwanese-American author Erica Lee Schlaikjer that weaves together Amis culture, heritage, history and language.
Lien is to make an appearance at the festival today to interact with visitors and share stories about Taiwan, the ministry said.
The Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles said the festival, now in its 30th year, is one of the most prestigious book fairs in the US.
The event is to feature more than 500 authors, seminars and performances, and is expected to attract about 150,000 visitors, the academy said.
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