The Taipei Book Fair Foundation announced winners of the 2021 Taipei International Book Exhibition (TiBE) Book Prizes and the 17th Golden Butterfly Awards for book design at a press conference on Dec. 15. A presentation ceremony will be held at the opening of the 2021 exhibition on Jan. 26. Winners of various categories as well as officials of the Ministry of Culture attended the press conference.
Director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) of the Department of Humanities and Publications of the Ministry of Culture, said that the TiBE Book Prizes and the Golden Butterfly Awards are the highlights of the annual TiBE, and, this year, works of diverse themes and forms from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong have won prizes of different categories, "which reflects freedom of expression and freedom of publication as well as the tolerance and openness of this land ." The efforts of literary creators have contributed to good publishing environment, and the government will continue to give its support, she added.
"Darkness Under the Sun (黑日)," a non-fiction by Hon Lai Chu's (韓麗珠), a writer in Hong Kong, provides a detailed account of her observation of Hong Kong society in recent years. Since she was unable to attend the press conference, Hon submitted a recording to express her gratitude and reveal difficulties in publishing the book. "I need to thank Taiwan’s literary publishing circle as the only place to preserve its freedom among the three places on both sides of the Taiwan Strait," she said, adding that "I am grateful for the encounter with literature, since everything becomes more meaningful when put down in words."
Su Xiaokang (蘇曉康), another winner of the non-fiction category, pointed out that for someone like himself, who has been living in the United States for more than thirty years, learning how to write in Chinese again is very important, while being abroad for long years. "In the past 30 years, I have published and presented my works in Taiwan, hence Taiwan is my literary home," he said, adding that in contrast of those in China, people in Taiwan enjoy freedom of expression and freedom of publication, which are the most precious and important values of the land.
The first prizes for literature for children and young adults were awarded to Chiou Cheng-zong (邱承宗) for "Kingfisher (翠鳥)," Lin Lian-en (林廉恩) for "Home," Yu Pei-yun (游珮芸) and Chou Chien-hsin (周見信) for "Son of Formosa 1&2 (來自清水的孩子1愛讀冊的少年, 來自清水的孩子2綠島十年)," respectively. The prize for editing went to Sherry Lin (李雪莉) for "Fiery Tides: The Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Movement and Its Impacts (烈火黑潮：城市戰地裡的香港人)."
For the Golden Butterfly Awards for book design, Hsia Yu (夏宇) and Hong Yichi (洪伊奇) won the first prize for "Ji Zhui Zhi Zhou (脊椎之軸)," Kuo Yi Chiau (郭一樵) the second prize for "Papercut Field - An Experimental Project In Taiwan (剪花活- 剪紙合作社– 台灣剪紙實驗田野)," and Chen Guan-Ru (陳冠儒) the third prize for "Passing Travellers of Time and Space (百代之過客)."