Taiwanese comic book “Son of Formosa (來自清水的孩子)” won the 7th Émile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature in the new category of graphic novel. One of its authors Yu Pei-yun (游珮芸), the director of the Graduate Institute of Children’s Literature at National Taitung University, attended the award ceremony on Feb. 29 in Paris.
Established in 2017 and organized by the Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts,, the Émile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature is a prestigious French literary award. This year, the newly added graphic novel category includes “Moms” by Korean artist Yeong-shin Ma, “Shuna’s Journey” by Hayao Miyazaki, and “Son of Formosa” by Yu Pei-yun as finalists.
“Son of Formosa” is a comic series authored by Yu Pei-yun and illustrated by Zhou Jian-xin (周見信). It chronicles the life of Tsai Kun-lin (蔡焜霖), a Taiwanese political prisoner who was born during the Japanese colonial rule and endured the martial law era. The series has been translated into several languages, including Japanese, French, Arabic, German, Korean, English, and Italian.
Expressing her aspirations in her acceptance speech, Yu Pei-yun stated her desire to share the stories of Taiwan’s martial law era, particularly with younger generations, and to present Taiwan's history to the global audience.