Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s Taiwan Travelogue wins 2026 International Booker Prize

Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and translator Lin King won the 2026 International Booker Prize on May 19 for *Taiwan Travelogue*, the Booker Prize Foundation said. The award, announced at London’s Tate Modern, made the novel the first work translated from Mandarin Chinese to win the prize. The foundation said the £50,000 award is divided equally between author and translator. The win was also a first for Yáng as a Taiwanese writer and for Lin King as a Taiwanese-American translator. ### Why did this book stand out to the judges? Natasha Brown, chair of the 2026 judging panel, described *Taiwan Travelogue* as “a captivating, slyly sophisticated” work that succeeds “as both a romance and an incisive postcolonial novel,” according to the Booker Prize Foundation. The foundation said the novel takes the form of a fictional translation of a rediscovered Japanese travel memoir and follows two women on a culinary tour of 1930s Taiwan under Japanese rule. (thebookerprizes.com) The Booker Prize Foundation said the book explores “history, power and love” through food, travel and language. NPR affiliate coverage said the story centers on romance, food and colonialism, while the Washington Post identified it as a multilayered historical romance. (thebookerprizes.com) ### Who shares the prize, and why does the translator matter here? Lin King was credited alongside Yáng Shuāng-zǐ on the prize-winning English edition, in line with International Booker rules that recognize both author and translator. The Bookseller reported the winning edition as *Taiwan Travelogue*, translated by Lin King, and the Booker Prize Foundation listed both winners in its announcement. (thebookerprizes.com) The International Booker Prize is specifically for fiction translated into English, and the award money is split evenly between writer and translator. NPR affiliate coverage said Yáng and Lin will share the £50,000 prize, about $67,000. ### What is *Taiwan Travelogue* about? The Booker Prize Foundation said the novel is set in 1930s Taiwan during Japanese colonial rule. (thebookseller.com) Its central device is a fictional translated memoir, a structure that puts translation itself inside the story as well as outside it. The foundation’s background note said the book follows Aoyama, a Japanese writer, and her Taiwanese interpreter, Chizuru, on a government-sponsored journey across the island. (tspr.org) Yáng Shuāng-zǐ said in the foundation’s release that researching the novel changed her life in “two obvious ways”: “my savings went down; my weight went up.” The line appeared in the foundation’s account of the ceremony and referred to the book’s focus on travel and food. (thebookerprizes.com) ### What were the rules for this year’s prize? The 2026 International Booker Prize covered books translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between May 1, 2025 and April 30, 2026, according to coverage cited in the source briefing and the Booker framework for the award year. The prize honors either a single work of long-form fiction or a short-story collection in translation. (thebookerprizes.com) The 2026 prize also marked the award’s 10th anniversary in its current form, NPR affiliate coverage said. The Booker Prize Foundation said independent publisher And Other Stories recorded a second straight International Booker win with *Taiwan Travelogue*. ### What happens after the win? May 19 is the key date for this year’s result: that is when the Booker Prize Foundation formally announced the winner at Tate Modern in London. (thebookerprizes.com) The winning edition is published in English by And Other Stories, according to the foundation and trade coverage. Readers looking for the official citation, judges’ comments and author-translator credits can find them in the Booker Prize Foundation’s winner announcement and related book page. (tspr.org)