Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, author of Taiwan Travelogue, and her translator Lin King won the 2026 International Booker prize on Tuesday night at the Tate Modern. The novel, set in 1930s Japanese-occupied Taiwan, explores themes of colonialism and identity. In her acceptance speech, Yáng stated, 'Some people believe that art and literature must be kept far from politics. But I believe that literature cannot be separated from the soil in which it has grown.'
The 41-year-old writer elaborated on the identity crisis facing Taiwanese people. 'Some of us believe ourselves to be Chinese, and others believe we are Taiwanese. I wanted to express that through my book. As Taiwanese people, we need to ask ourselves now: do we want to go back to being colonised? Do we want to have to live like that again? Be second-class citizens in our own land? I refuse.'
A Unique Novel
Taiwan Travelogue is the first book originally written in Mandarin to win the £50,000 prize. Presented as a rediscovered travel memoir from 1938, it follows Aoyama, a Japanese novelist, on a government-sponsored culinary tour of Taiwan. She meets Chizuru, an enigmatic Taiwanese interpreter, and becomes infatuated. Each chapter is named after a Taiwanese delicacy, creating a synaesthetic experience. Yáng joked that researching travel and food 'changed my life in two obvious ways: my savings went down; my weight went up.'
Although set in the 1930s, the novel feels modern in its questions about national identity and colonialism. Taiwan remains a politically sensitive territory, claimed by Beijing as part of China. Just last week, Donald Trump warned Taiwan against declaring independence.
Personal Inspiration
Yáng adopted the pen name Shuāng-zǐ, meaning 'twins', as a tribute to her late twin sister, Yáng Jo-hui, who helped research the novel before her death. Taiwan Travelogue has had an extraordinary trajectory: a literary sensation in Taiwan after its 2020 publication, winner of the National Book Award for translated literature in the US in 2024, and now the International Booker prize.
The novel's structural playfulness is central to its appeal. Some Mandarin readers believed it was a rediscovered colonial-era text. In English, King leaned into the hall-of-mirrors effect, preserving and expanding footnotes and competing narrative voices. Judging chair Natasha Brown described it as an 'intriguing metafictional layer.' King said, 'I appreciate that it’s a really hard book to read. It’s been heartening to see people willing to put in the work.'
Love and Power Dynamics
The novel's slipperiness echoes its emotional core. Aoyama and Chizuru's relationship unfolds through interpretation and misinterpretation. Chizuru, the Taiwanese-born daughter of a concubine, feels socially inferior to Aoyama, a Japanese novelist protected by the colonial government. Yáng said, 'It’s a story about love, but also about how love cannot overcome power dynamics. Love doesn’t overcome the differences between ruling-class and second-class citizens.'
King, 33 and Taiwanese-American, is candid about art and politics. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, she saw echoes of Taiwan's geopolitical precarity and pledged to translate only Taiwanese writing. She said on stage, 'My goal is to bring so many voices from Taiwan into English that no one can reduce Taiwan’s literature to a monolith. We are not a chorus but a cacophony, self-contradicting and unruly, just like any healthy, robust democracy.'
Queer Themes and LGBTQ+ Rights
The novel's queerness is central to its vision of Taiwan as a democratic society. Aoyama's fascination with Chizuru is constrained by social convention. Yáng, who is in a relationship with a woman, sees the novel as part of a 'rich heritage of queer literature' in Taiwan. She said, 'What I specifically wanted to write about is relationships between women in every form. Love between women.'
Taiwan legalised same-sex marriage in 2019, becoming the first Asian territory to do so. Yáng said, 'I believe we are the most progressive state in East Asia, whether in LGBTQ+ rights or women’s rights. We’re setting an example.'
Translation and Recognition
The International Booker prize splits its award equally between author and translator, highlighting translation as creative work. Taiwan Travelogue's success comes amid growing interest in translated fiction. In 2023, UK readers spent £23m on translated fiction, up 12% from the previous year, with 25-34-year-olds as the largest purchase group.
While published in the US in 2024, the UK release took two more years because no publisher would put King's name on the cover alongside Yáng's. Independent publisher And Other Stories stepped in, now celebrating its second consecutive International Booker win.
King said, 'The beauty of reading is being transported to a reality not your own, epitomised by translated literature. Whenever I look at prizes like this, I feel so ignorant going down the longlist, thinking, Wow, I didn’t even know that dictatorship existed, that genocide or change of regime.'
Taiwan Travelogue has opened Taiwan to unfamiliar readers and resonated with younger Taiwanese and the diaspora. King said, 'A lot of people told me it was their first time seeing Taiwan featured in an English-language book, and it’s reinvigorated their interest to learn more about Taiwan. That is one of the things I’m most happy about.'
