First Mandarin novel wins International Booker Prize

Taiwan Author Yang Shuang-zi Wins International Booker Prize

Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi and translator Lin King won the 2026 International Booker Prize on Tuesday for “Taiwan Travelogue,” making history as the first book translated from Mandarin Chinese to claim the award and the first win by a Taiwanese writer.npr

The winner was announced at a ceremony at London’s Tate Modern, marking the prize’s 10th anniversary in its current form. Chair of judges Natasha Brown described the novel as one that “pulls off an incredible double feat,” calling it “a captivating, slyly sophisticated novel.” The judges characterized the book as “a bittersweet story of love between two women, nested in artful exploration of language, history and power.”lithub

A Novel Within a Novel

“Taiwan Travelogue” is structured as the rediscovery and translation of a fictional 1939 travelogue written by an invented Japanese author named Aoyama Chizuko, set during the period of Japanese colonial rule over Taiwan. The postcolonial narrative explores themes of language, identity, and power through a romantic story between two women in 1930s Taiwan.substack

Yang and King will share the £50,000 prize, roughly $67,000, along with a trophy presented by Brown.yahoo

A Milestone for Taiwanese Literature

The win carries particular weight for Taiwanese literature on the world stage. According to Focus Taiwan, Yang used her acceptance speech to pay tribute to Taiwan’s literary tradition. Lin King, a Taiwanese-American translator, brought the Mandarin-language work to English-language readers through publisher Scribe Publications.google

The International Booker Prize recognizes the best work of long-form fiction translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland in the previous calendar year. “Taiwan Travelogue” was selected from a shortlist of six titles announced in March.facebook