'Taiwan Travelogue' set for TV adaptation

Producer Chang Chen-yu said on May 22 that Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s “Taiwan Travelogue” will be adapted into a television series through a Taiwan-Japan co-production, days after the novel won the 2026 International Booker Prize. Focus Taiwan and Taipei Times, both citing Chang, reported the announcement on May 22 and May 23. The book’s English-language publisher, And Other Stories, has been part of the post-prize attention around the novel, which won in London on May 19. The adaptation news lands after a week in which “Taiwan Travelogue” became the first Taiwanese literary work to win the International Booker Prize. The Booker Prize Foundation said the novel, translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King, was also the first book translated from Mandarin Chinese to win the award. The prize was announced at a ceremony in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in London. (focustaiwan.tw) ### Who said the television adaptation is happening? Chang Chen-yu, identified by Focus Taiwan as a Taiwanese producer, said Friday that the book is set for television through a Taiwan-Japan co-production. Taipei Times reported the same plan and said Chang made the remarks the previous day. Both reports described the project as a series adaptation rather than a film. Variety had reported in late 2025 that World Softest Productions was developing “Taiwan Travelogue” as a series adaptation and that the project was in script development after being selected at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest, or TCCF. (thebookerprizes.com) That earlier report indicates the screen version was already moving before the Booker result. ### What is the book that just won the Booker? (focustaiwan.tw) The Booker Prize Foundation said “Taiwan Travelogue” follows a Japanese writer, Aoyama Chizuko, and her Taiwanese interpreter on a culinary tour of 1930s Taiwan under Japanese rule. The foundation described the novel as exploring history, power and love through the frame of a fictional translation of a rediscovered Japanese travel memoir. (variety.com) NPR reported on May 19 that the win made the book the first work translated from Mandarin Chinese to take the prize. Taipei Times said the English translation had already won the 2024 U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature, also a first for Taiwanese literature. ### Why did this become a bigger story this week? May 19 was the turning point in visibility because that was when Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and Lin King were announced as the 2026 winners in London. (thebookerprizes.com) The Booker Prize Foundation said the £50,000 award is split equally between author and translator. NPR and other outlets said the award’s 10th anniversary year added to the attention around the result. (npr.org) Taipei Times and Focus Taiwan both framed the adaptation as following that win. Their reports tied the television project directly to the surge in international attention after the prize announcement. ### What do we know about the production itself? A Taiwan-Japan co-production is the clearest confirmed production detail so far. The published reports do not give a broadcaster, streamer, release date or cast. They identify Chang as the producer attached to the adaptation and describe the project as a television series. (thebookerprizes.com) Variety’s 2025 report said the project was being developed by World Softest Productions and centered on the relationship between two women in 1938 Taiwan. (focustaiwan.tw) That report also said the series was in script development at the time. ### What comes next? No release window has been announced as of May 23. The next concrete milestone is likely to come from the production side — Chang Chen-yu, World Softest Productions or a Taiwan-Japan distribution partner — because the existing reports stop at confirmation that the television series is being developed. (focustaiwan.tw) (variety.com)