“Taiwan Travelogue (臺灣漫遊錄),” a novel written by Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi (楊双子) and translated by Lin King (金翎), won the U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature last November. With support from the Ministry of Culture, Yang and King have been invited on a book tour in New York and California, the U.S., from Feb. 12 to 20.
A total of eight sessions will be held at literary institutions, bookstores, and universities across the U.S., including Yu & Me Books, the New York Public Library, and Hunter College of the City University of New York, as well as Skylight Books, Chapman University, and University of California campuses in Irvine, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara. Yang and King will discuss the novel’s source of inspiration, along with its writing and translating process.
Set in 1938 when Taiwan was governed as a colony of imperial Japan, “Taiwan Travelogue” explores local culture and daily life, with each chapter highlighting a Taiwanese or Japanese dish. Through themes of travel, food, and the interactions between Taiwanese and Japanese women, the novel touches upon issues of gender, culture, colonialism, and history.
The Taipei Cultural Center in New York emphasized that the tour for the novel has drawn significant attention from the international literary community for its remarkable achievement at the U.S. National Book Award. Through this event, the center aims to deepen global appreciation for Taiwanese literature and history.