Yáng Shuāng-zǐ named 2026 International Booker Prize winner for Taiwan Travelogue

Yáng Shuāng-zǐ was named winner of the 2026 International Booker Prize on May 19 at Tate Modern in London for *Taiwan Travelogue*, a novel translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King. The award, announced by judging chair Natasha Brown, honors a single work of fiction translated into English and published in the U.K. or Ireland. (thebookerprizes.com) Organizers said the £50,000 prize will be divided equally between Yáng and King. The win made *Taiwan Travelogue* the first book translated from Mandarin Chinese to take the prize. ### Who are the winners, and what exactly did they win? Lin King shared the 2026 International Booker with Yáng because the prize is awarded jointly to author and translator. (thebookerprizes.com) The Booker Prize organization said the award recognizes the best work of long-form fiction or short-story collection translated into English and published in the eligible market over the previous year. The £50,000 purse is split equally between the two winners. NPR and the Booker Prize said Yáng and King are the first Taiwanese and Taiwanese-American winners of the prize. (thebookerprizes.com) ### What is *Taiwan Travelogue* about? *Taiwan Travelogue* is set in 1930s Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule and follows two women on a culinary journey across the island. The Booker Prize described the novel as taking the form of a fictional translation of a rediscovered Japanese travel memoir, using food, travel and intimacy to examine history, power and love. (thebookerprizes.com) The New York Times described the book as a love story from Taiwan, while the Booker materials say it also explores class, colonialism and language. Those elements were central to the judges’ account of why it stood out on this year’s shortlist. (tspr.org) ### Why is this win historically notable? The 2026 prize is the first time a work originally written in Mandarin Chinese has won the International Booker. The Booker Prize, NPR and the New York Times each said the book is the first translation from Mandarin Chinese to receive the award. (thebookerprizes.com) This year also marked the 10th anniversary of the prize in its current form. NPR said the award now specifically recognizes a single translated book, with equal credit given to the author and translator. ### What did the judges say about the book? (nytimes.com) Natasha Brown said *Taiwan Travelogue* “succeeds as both a romance and an incisive postcolonial novel,” according to the Booker Prize and other reports. Brown also called it “a captivating, slyly sophisticated” work as the judges announced the winner in London. The Booker Prize said the judges selected the winner from a six-book shortlist. (thebookerprizes.com) Publishers Weekly reported that the U.S. edition was published by Graywolf, while the U.K. publisher, And Other Stories, recorded a second straight International Booker win. (npr.org) ### What do we know about Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and Lin King? Yáng Shuāng-zǐ is a Taiwanese writer whose work includes fiction, essays, manga, video game scripts and literary criticism, according to the Booker Prize. The organization said *Taiwan Travelogue* was Yáng’s first book translated into English. (thebookerprizes.com) Lin King is the translator recognized alongside Yáng under the prize’s joint-award structure. Booker materials now include a winner page, a reading guide, an interview with Yáng and King, and an extract from the novel. ### Where can readers find the next official materials? The Booker Prize website has published the winner announcement dated May 19, 2026, along with supporting pages for the 2026 prize year and the book itself. (publishersweekly.com) Those pages include the judges’ citation, shortlist context and additional material on *Taiwan Travelogue* and its translation. (thebookerprizes.com 1) (thebookerprizes.com 2) (thebookerprizes.com 3)