"The Taiwan Travelogue" Wins International Booker Prize, Setting Multiple Records

(CNA, by Chen Yun-yu, London, 19th) The novel "The Taiwan Travelogue," written by Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-tzu and translated into English by Lin King, has won the major annual literary award, the International Booker Prize. According to information released by the organizer, the Booker Prize Foundation, "The Taiwan Travelogue" has broken several historical records for the prize. According to the foundation, this is the first time a Taiwanese author and a Taiwanese translator have been awarded the International Booker Prize, and it is also the first time a work originally in Chinese has won. Furthermore, although "The Taiwan Travelogue" was only officially published in the UK in March of this year, since the shortlist was announced on March 31, it quickly became the second-best-selling work among the six shortlisted books, with sales growing by an average of 65% per week. "The Taiwan Travelogue" was also the bookmakers' favorite to win, with odds of 5 to 2. The International Booker Prize rewards works of fiction, and entries must be novels or short story collections translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. After its publication in Taiwan in 2020, "The Taiwan Travelogue" has been translated into Japanese, English, Korean, Finnish, and other languages, with rights sold in a total of 24 countries to date. In the UK, "The Taiwan Travelogue" is published by the independent press And Other Stories. According to the Booker Prize Foundation, independent publishers have once again shone at this year's award. Looking at the prize's history, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, a total of nine independent publishers have had works win. "The Taiwan Travelogue" is already And Other Stories' seventh publication to be shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. Moreover, this year marks the second consecutive year that a publication from And Other Stories has won the award, following last year's win. Tara Tobler, a senior editor at And Other Stories, mentioned in a recent exclusive interview with CNA that when she first encountered "The Taiwan Travelogue," she "immediately fell in love" with the book. She also humorously added that the book's descriptions of food are so captivating that if the work were to win the grand prize, they might consider releasing an "illustrated version with recipes" in the UK. The International Booker Prize comes with a cash award of £50,000 (approx. NT$