The Ministry of Culture (MOC) announced the winners of the 44th Golden Tripod Awards for Publications on Aug. 4. This year's recipient of the special contribution award is Ho Fei-peng (何飛鵬), a prominent publisher who is currently chairman of the publishing group Cite Publishing Ltd.
According to the judges, Ho is an exceptional visionary, pragmatically grasping the nature and function of publishing as part of the cultural industry to create a balance between making profits and pursuing ideals.
Also co-founding such influential local magazines as Business Weekly, PC Home, and Business Next and later establishing the publishing group Cite Publishing Ltd., Ho has devoted himself to improving the publishing industry in Taiwan, especially in the realm of digital publishing.
This year's awards honored 28 books, magazines, and pieces of digital media of four categories, which were selected from over 1,300 entries. In addition, 41 works were recommended as good publications, MOC said in a statement.
MOC Minister Lee Yung-te noted that the contents of the submitted entries are rich and diverse, including personal life stories, reflection on society, promotion of regional revitalization, and concern about global issues, adding that it is evident that Taiwan's publishers spare no effort to convey knowledge and information through all kinds of publications to their readers.
Best Literature Book goes to "Love Before Dawn: Scenes from Japanese Taiwan (天亮之前的戀愛：日治台灣小說風景)" by Lai Hsiang-yin (賴香吟), "The Cloudy Mountain (雲山)" by Chen Shu-yao (陳淑瑤), "A Journey of an Art Collection (名畫紀行：回到1929的公會堂)" by Lin Jiao-bi (林皎碧), and "Ghost of a Place (鬼地方)" by Kevin Chen (陳思宏).
Best non-fiction works included a handbook about utilization of regional revitalization resources; a book featuring Southeast Asian cuisine, fruits, and vegetables; a selection of documents about Taiwan's history in the letters from the 17th to the 20th century; and a record of traditional fishing methods in Taiwan.
Awardees in the category of Magazine Publication Awards are Fountain (新活水), CommonWealth Magazine (天下雜誌), Young Scientist Monthly (科學少年), and Ānkě (安可人生).
Detailed information about these winners can be found at here. The awards ceremony is slated for Sept. 11 at the Taipei New Horizon building.