Yang Shuang-zi's (楊双子) Taiwan Travelogue (臺灣漫遊錄) has been longlisted for the International Booker Prize for translated fiction, the award's organizers announced yesterday.
Judges described the novel, which tells the story of a same-sex romance between a Japanese author and her local interpreter in 1930s Taiwan, as "a delicious romance and an incisive postcolonial novel."
Photo courtesy of the Taichung City Government
"I hope people in Taiwan can have confidence in stories born and nurtured on this island, as Taiwanese literature is no less vibrant on the international stage," Yang was quoted as saying in a news release.
Following in the footsteps of Wu Ming-yi (吳明益), who was longlisted in 2018 for his novel The Stolen Bicycle (單車失竊記), Yang said she believes more Taiwanese novelists would see their names appear on the prize's lists in the future.
Lin King (金翎), the English translator of Taiwan Travelogue, said she is honored that the English edition, published more than a year ago, continues to resonate with readers worldwide.
She thanked the International Booker Prize and And Other Stories, Taiwan Travelogue's UK publisher, for helping more readers discover Taiwanese stories.
The International Booker Prize is an annual UK award for translated fiction, with a £50,000 (US$67,598) prize split equally between the author and translator.
For this year's award, 13 titles were longlisted from 128 submissions.
Of these, six finalists are to be named on March 31, with the winner announced in London on May 19.
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