- World
- May 20
Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi wins International Booker Prize 2026
• Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi and translator Lin King won the International Booker Prize for ‘Taiwan Travelogue’.
• The announcement was made by award-winning author Natasha Brown, chair of the 2026 judges, at a ceremony at London’s Tate Modern on May 19.
• The annual prize celebrates the best works of long-form fiction or collections of short stories translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between May 1, 2025 and April 30, 2026.
• The International Booker Prize recognises the vital work of translation, with the £50,000 prize money divided equally between the author and the translator.
What is the book about?
• Set in 1930s Japan-controlled Taiwan, the book takes the form of a fictional translation of a rediscovered Japanese travel memoir penned by fictional writer Aoyama Chizuko.
• It traces Chizuko’s travels and gastronomic adventures across the colonial outpost, and the intimate relationship she develops with her Taiwanese interpreter Chizuru.
• Published in its original language in 2020, ‘Taiwan Travelogue’ is the first of Yang’s books to be translated into English.
• In the US, it won the National Book Award’s translation category in 2024.
The other five books shortlisted were:
• The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran - Shida Bazyar
• She Who Remains - Rene Karabash
• The Director - Daniel Kehlmann
• On Earth As It Is Beneath - Ana Paula Maia
• The Witch - Marie NDiaye.
International Booker Prize
• The International Booker Prize, formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize, has been awarded since 2005.
• It is a sister prize to the Booker Prize, awarded to a novel written in English.
• It was initially a biennial prize for a body of work, and there was no stipulation that the work should be written in a language other than English. Early winners of the Man Booker International Prize therefore include Alice Munro, Lydia Davis and Philip Roth, as well as Ismail Kadare and Laszlo Krasznahorkai.
• In 2015, the rules of the original Booker Prize expanded to allow writers of any nationality to enter — as long as their books were written in English and published in the UK — the International Prize evolved to become the mirror image of the English-language prize.
• Since then it has been awarded annually for a single book, written in another language and translated into English.
• The vital work of translators is celebrated, with the £50,000 prize money divided equally between the author and translator. Each shortlisted author and translator also receives £2,500.
• Novels and collections of short stories are both eligible.