Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi (楊双子) and translator Lin King (金翎) toured Southern California, U.S. from Feb. 18 to 20 to promote their novel “Taiwan Travelogue (臺灣漫遊錄),” which won the U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature last November.
The tour included events at Chapman University and the University of California campuses in Irvine, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara.
During the tour, Yang discussed the novel’s unique narrative perspective—that of a translator navigating Japanese and Taigi in Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule. By depicting food culture at risk of disappearing today, she hopes to preserve Taiwan’s multicultural heritage.
King reflected on the challenges she faced in translation, particularly in conveying the names of foods and cooking processes that have no direct equivalents in English. To bridge the gap, she incorporated alternatives from French, Japanese, and Mandarin.
On Feb. 19, they participated in an author talk at Skylight Books, moderated by Charles Yu (游朝凱), winner of the National Book Award for Fiction 2020. Together, they explored Taiwan’s history, diverse ethics, and the intersections of political shifts, culinary culture, and tourism.
The Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles highlighted that this was the first U.S. tour by Yang and King after the National Book Award win. With an enthusiastic reception from audiences, the academy expressed hope to continue to showcase Taiwan’s rich history and culture to the world through translated literary works.