Taiwanese award-winning writer Syaman Rapongan (夏曼．藍波安) has been invited to partake in the Étonnants Voyageurs festival, set to take place from May 27 to 29. His French-translated work "Mata nu Wawa (Eye of the Sea)" has been nominated for the "Gens de Mer" award at the festival. Over the course of the three-day event, the author will engage in several activities, including forums, themed sessions, workshops, meetings, and a book fair.
Syaman Rapongan, a literary writer and anthropologist, hails from the Tao tribe of Orchid Island in Taiwan. Currently, he works as a full-time writer and is also the head of the Island Indigenous Science Studio. His novels primarily revolve around the mythical stories of the Tao people, while his prose works depict personal experiences and emotional transitions within both Orchid Island and Taiwanese society. Through his writing, he embarked on a journey to explore his indigenous heritage, regain a connection with the ocean, and ultimately, awaken a sense of cultural identity among Taiwan's indigenous people. Previously, he has been recognized with various literary awards, including the Wu Zhuo-liu Literary Award (吳濁流文學獎), China Times Literature Award (時報文學獎), Lucian Wu Prose Award (吳魯芹文學散文獎), and more.
The Étonnants Voyageurs festival, known as Le festival international du livre et du film Étonnants Voyageurs, is one of France's most renowned and grand international literary festivals. Founded in 1990, the festival takes place annually in the city of Saint-Malo, located in the Brittany region of France. The festival embraces literature in the broadest sense, encompassing various genres such as novels, travel literature, comics, science fiction, poetry, films, photography collections, and other forms of interdisciplinary collaborations.