TV adaptation announced for Taiwan Travelogue, recent International Booker winner

Yang Shuang-zi’s “Taiwan Travelogue,” which won the 2026 International Booker Prize on May 19, is now headed for television through a Taiwan-Japan coproduction, according to reporting published May 23 by the Taipei Times. Producer Chang Chen-yu said he moved to secure the screen rights after reading the novel, which earlier this week became the first Taiwanese work to win the prize. The adaptation plan gives a fast second act to a book that had already crossed from Taiwan’s literary scene into the English-speaking awards circuit. The project also ties the novel’s next phase to cross-border production from the outset. ### Who is behind the adaptation? Chang Chen-yu, a producer at World Softest Production Film Co., said the series is being developed as a Taiwan-Japan coproduction. In a Facebook post cited by Taipei Times and Focus Taiwan, Chang said his company had been looking for projects with international appeal that still carried a strong Taiwanese identity, and that colleagues and Japanese partners had strongly recommended the book. (taipeitimes.com) Chang said he decided to pursue the adaptation rights immediately after reading the novel and was able to obtain them. He did not provide a broadcaster, cast list, release timetable or financing details in the reports published Friday and Saturday. ### Why did “Taiwan Travelogue” move so quickly beyond the page? The Booker Prize Foundation said on May 19 that “Taiwan Travelogue,” translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King, won the 2026 International Booker Prize in London. (taipeitimes.com) The foundation said it was the first book translated from Mandarin Chinese to win the prize, and that Yang and Lin were the first Taiwanese and Taiwanese-American winners. The prize came with £50,000, split equally between author and translator, according to the Booker Prize Foundation. Taipei Times separately reported that the win made the novel the first Taiwanese novel to take the International Booker. ### What is the novel about? “Taiwan Travelogue,” first published in 2020, is a work of historical fiction set in 1938 during Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan, according to Taipei Times and Focus Taiwan. (thebookerprizes.com) The story follows a Taiwanese woman and a Japanese woman traveling across Taiwan by rail, using food, travel and translation to explore identity, empire and cultural exchange. The Booker Prize Foundation described the book as a fictional translation of a rediscovered Japanese travel memoir and said it examines history, power and love through the two women’s journey across 1930s Taiwan. Judge Natasha Brown called it “a captivating, slyly sophisticated” work that succeeds as both a romance and a postcolonial novel. (taipeitimes.com) ### What did Chang say makes it adaptable for television? Chang said the novel has a “layered narrative,” combining a sensory journey through 1930s Taiwan — including railways and food — with reflections on language, colonial power and cultural interpretation. He also said the relationship between the two protagonists “is not simply romantic” and reflects “the subtle dynamics between colonizer and colonized through repeated acts of translation and mistranslation.” (thebookerprizes.com) Chang added that “a great story has the power to transcend time and borders and connect countless people.” He said the production team hopes to work with partners around the world to bring different versions of “Taiwan Travelogue” to wider audiences. ### Who else has publicly backed the project? Japanese writer Hikari Sumiki voiced support for the adaptation on Facebook, according to Taipei Times and Focus Taiwan. (taipeitimes.com) Sumiki said it was exciting to imagine the novel becoming “a starting point for travelers from around the world to explore Taiwan.” As of May 23, the public record on the project is still limited to Chang’s announcement and follow-up press coverage. (taipeitimes.com) The named participants in the next step are Chang, World Softest Production Film Co. and the Japanese partners he said had encouraged the project, with further production details yet to be announced.