The winners of the 2023 Taiwan Literature Awards (TLA) for Books were revealed on Oct. 30. Among 30 works that were selected as the finalists, Chen Lieh’s (陳列) “The Book of Wreckage (殘骸書)” came out on top as the Annual Golden Grand Laurel Award winner.
The judging panel pointed out that written in a plain yet profound language, Chen’s prose is able to recall the memories of the White Terror by revisiting historical moments and personal experiences, while restrainedly portraying the buried pain and humiliation. The book resonated with the majority of the judges and was already chosen as the top prize winner during the first round of voting.
The TLA received 191 submissions this year, and among the 30 finalists, one was selected for the Annual Golden Grand Laurel Award, seven for the Golden Book Awards, and three for the New Bud Award. The prize money for the top prize is NT$1 million, while the rest of the winners each will be awarded NT$150,000.
The seven winners of the Golden Book Awards are: “Bullets Are the Remaining Life (子彈是餘生)” by Tsao Sheng-hao (曹盛濠, or寺尾哲也 for his pen name), “The Lost River (沒口之河)” by Huang Han-yau (黃瀚嶢), "Brother (弟弟)" by Chan Wai-yee (陳慧), "Here's to Us, Bottoms Up (我隨意，你盡量)" by Ông Chiau-hôa (王昭華), "Late Night Patrol of the Abandoned God (夜官巡場Iā-Kuan Sûn-Tiûnn)” by Tiunn Ka-siông (張嘉祥), “Mooyi (魔以)” by Chen Shu-yao (陳淑瑤), and “Eyelids of Morning (鱷眼晨曦)” by Zhang Gui-xing（張貴興）.
Additionally, Tsao, Huang, and Tiunn also won the New Bud Award, which was set up to encourage emerging talents.
Regarding the overall trend in Taiwanese literature, the judging panel said that themes such as national history, coming of age, environmental care, and social movements are the main focus nowadays. Furthermore, they observed that the writers of the younger generation who grew up with popular culture such as animations and video games can write in an unorthodox way with their own creativity and imagination, creating a different kind of reading pleasure for their readers.
The TLA Award ceremony will stage at Huashan 1914 Creative Park at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 11 with a live stream on the Taiwan Literature Awards for Books Facebook page.