Yang Shuang-zi wins International Booker Prize

Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and translator Lin King won the 2026 International Booker Prize for *Taiwan Travelogue*, according to prize organizers, who announced the result after a ceremony at Tate Modern in London on Tuesday, May 19. The award goes each year to a work of fiction translated into English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. (thebookerprizes.com) The Booker Prizes said the £50,000 award is divided equally between writer and translator. *Taiwan Travelogue* is the first book translated from Mandarin Chinese to win the prize. ### Why is this win drawing extra attention beyond the prize itself? The Booker Prizes said Yáng is the first Taiwanese writer to win the International Booker Prize, while Lin King is identified by the organization as a Taiwanese and American winner alongside her. (thebookerprizes.com) The win also gives independent publisher And Other Stories back-to-back International Booker victories after its 2025 success with *Heart Lamp*, according to the prize announcement. The Booker archive says 2026 marks 10 years of the prize in its current form, which recognizes a single book of long-form fiction or short stories translated into English, with the author and translator sharing the award. The anniversary has become part of the coverage around this year’s winner because the modern structure of the prize is built around equal recognition for translation. (thebookerprizes.com) ### What is Taiwan Travelogue about? *Taiwan Travelogue* is set in 1938 in Japanese-ruled Taiwan and follows Aoyama Chizuko, a Japanese novelist, and her Taiwanese interpreter, Chizuru, on a culinary tour of the island, according to the Booker Prizes’ book page. The organization describes the novel as a story of love, language, history and power, framed as a fictional translation of a rediscovered Japanese travel memoir. (thebookerprizes.com) Natasha Brown, chair of the 2026 judging panel, said in the Booker release that the book “succeeds as both a romance and an incisive postcolonial novel.” Brown said the judges saw it as “a captivating, slyly sophisticated” work. (thebookerprizes.com) ### Who are Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and Lin King? The Booker Prizes says Yáng Shuāng-zǐ is a Taiwanese writer whose work includes fiction, essays, manga and video game scripts, and that *Taiwan Travelogue* is her first book translated into English. Lin King is described by the Booker site as a writer and translator based in Taipei and New York. Focus Taiwan and other Taiwan-based coverage said the English translation had already won the 2024 U.S. (thebookerprizes.com) National Book Award for Translated Literature, a first for Taiwanese literature. That earlier prize helped establish the book’s English-language profile before the Booker win. ### How does the International Booker Prize work? The International Booker Prize is awarded annually to a book translated into English and published in the U.K. or Ireland, the Booker website says. (thebookerprizes.com) The 2026 prize year page lists six shortlisted books, with *Taiwan Travelogue* selected as the winner. The £50,000 winner’s purse is shared equally between author and translator, and shortlisted titles also receive recognition through the prize program, according to the Booker organization. (thebookerprizes.com) That structure is central to the award’s public identity and to the way the 2026 result has been presented. ### Where can readers find the official record of the win? (focustaiwan.tw) The Booker Prizes website now carries the official winner announcement, a dedicated page for *Taiwan Travelogue*, and separate author pages for Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and Lin King. The 2026 prize page also lists the full shortlist published as part of this year’s award cycle. (thebookerprizes.com 1) (thebookerprizes.com 2)