"Taiwan Travelogue" to be Published in Italy in 2027; Translator Coincidentally on Residency in Taiwan

(CNA, by reporter Huang Ya-shih, Rome, May 20, Special Dispatch) After "Taiwan Travelogue" won the prestigious International Booker Prize, renowned Italian publisher Fazi Editore announced today that it has scheduled the publication of an Italian edition for early 2027. The book will be translated by acclaimed Italian sinologist Silvia Pozzi, who is currently serving as a writer-in-residence at the Taiwan Literature Base. Fazi Editore announced the great news of "Taiwan Travelogue" winning the UK's International Booker Prize and the Italian edition's publication timeline through multiple channels, including its official Facebook page and press releases. This has greatly excited many Taiwanese expatriates in Italy, who have expressed their eagerness to introduce the Italian version to their local friends and family. The Italian publisher quoted the International Booker Prize jury's comments, praising the novel for its "mouth-watering food, witty dialogue, and a story that twists and turns, making it impossible to put down." They lauded "Taiwan Travelogue" for achieving "a stunning dual accomplishment, being both a moving love story and a thought-provoking post-colonial novel." The publisher noted that "Taiwan Travelogue" is the first translated work from Chinese to receive this honor, and its author, Yang Shuang-zi, and translator, Kate Gillingham (金翎), are also the first Taiwanese author and translator to win this award. The translator for the Italian edition, Silvia Pozzi, is currently in Taiwan participating in the "2026 Taiwan Literature Base Writer-in-Residence Program." She is holding two reader exchange sessions on May 17 and 24 to discuss the circulation and translation of Sinophone literature in Italy. According to the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, Pozzi is a professor at the University of Milan-Bicocca and the academic director of its permanent translation laboratory. Since 2014, she has served as co-editor of "Caratteri," Italy's first journal of contemporary Chinese literature. She has been involved in literary translation since 1999, translating works by numerous Chinese-language authors into Italian, including Alai, Kevin Chen, Han Han, Hao Jingfang, Lin Bai, Liu Cixin, Ning Ken, Qiu Miaojin, Wu Ming-yi, and Yu Hua. Pozzi was awarded the National Translation Award by the Italian Ministry of Culture in 2021 and the Mario Lattes Biennial Translation Award, established for contemporary Chinese literature, in 2022. In 2024, she received the 17th Special Book Award of China. (Editor: Chang Chih-hsuan)1