'Taiwan Travelogue' wins International Booker Prize, highly praised by Finnish publishing team

Central News Agency (Helsinki, May 22) Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi's novel 'Taiwan Travelogue' has won the International Booker Prize, becoming the first Taiwanese literary work and the first Chinese-translated novel to receive this honor. The Finnish edition was published in March, and the publisher and translator had already recognized its literary significance before the award was announced. The Finnish edition of 'Taiwan Travelogue' was published by Aula & Co in Helsinki, with translation by Rauno Sainio. Aula & Co publisher Niko Hall told CNA that he decided to publish it in Finland after reading the English version at a publishing exchange event in Taipei. He was moved not only by the story but also by the ingenuity of its structure: "It is a translation of a translation, like peeling back layers to see what is happening underneath." Translator Rauno Sainio admitted that this was the biggest challenge of his professional career. He noted that the book "disguises itself as a Japanese novel," making the translation of food names particularly tricky, as he had to identify which specific Japanese dish was being referred to from the Chinese text. He eventually cross-referenced the English translation by Goldie Lin to complete the Finnish version. Sainio is a veteran Finnish translator of Chinese, having translated an average of two Chinese books per year over the past decade. Both Hall and Sainio have visited Taiwan, grounding their understanding of Yang's work in real-world experience. Hall believes Taiwanese literature has a unique sense of familiarity for Western readers. Aula & Co has previously published Sanmao's 'Stories of the Sahara' and Kevin Chen's 'Ghost Town', making 'Taiwan Travelogue' the third Taiwanese literary work published by the company.