Context: Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated by Lin King won the 2026 International Booker Prize.
- Taiwanese writer Yáng Shuāng-zi’s Taiwan Travelogue, translated from the Mandarin Chinese by Lin King, is experimental in form. It contains a scholarly foreword, afterwords, fictional footnotes and real translator’s notes.
- The novel is Yáng Shuāng-zi’s first to be translated into English and the first translation from the Mandarin Chinese to win the International Booker Prize. This is also the second year in a row that the independent press, And Other Stories, has taken home the prize, following Heart Lamp last year.
- Yáng and King will split the £50,000 prize, which recognises the best fiction translated into English, equally between them.
International Booker Prize:
- It is awarded annually.
- It was established in 2005 as the Man Booker International Prize.
- It celebrates the best works of long-form fiction or collections of short stories translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland.
- It recognises the vital work of translators, with the £50,000 prize money divided equally between authors and translators.
- In addition, shortlisted authors and translators each receive £2,500.
- This prize aims to encourage more reading of quality fiction from all over the world.
Indian Winners of International Booker Prize:
- Geetanjali Shree – Tomb of Sand (2022), translated by Daisy Rockwell. It was the first Hindi work to win this prize.
- Banu Mushtaq – Heart Lamp (2025), translated by Deepa Bhasthi which was the first Kannada work to win this prize.