Taiwan Travelogue (Winner of the International Booker Prize 2026) - Yanyang Lin

Taiwan Travelogue is a masterful and deeply moving novel that has taken the global literary world by storm, clinching the prestigious International Booker Prize 2026 and the 2024 National Book Award for Translated Literature. Originally a sensation upon its Mandarin Chinese publication in 2020—where it won Taiwan’s highest literary honor, the Golden Tripod Award—this brilliant book is now available for readers worldwide.

​Synopsis:

Set in May 1938, the story follows a young Japanese novelist, Aoyama Chizuko, who sails from Nagasaki to the Japanese-occupied island of Taiwan. Disinterested in official imperialist banquets or political agendas, Chizuko’s only true longing is to immerse herself in authentic island life and indulge her famously monstrous appetite with local cuisine.

​She is soon paired with Chizuru, a younger Taiwanese woman hired as her interpreter. Erudite, meticulous, and an exceptional cook, Chizuru guides Chizuko through scenic train rides, vibrant conversations, comforting winter melon tea, and savory braised pork rice. As they travel across the Land of the South, Chizuko grows profoundly infatuated with her companion. However, Chizuru maintains an intentional, enigmatic distance. It is only after a heartbreaking separation that Chizuko truly begins to grasp the historical and cultural forces driving that distance.

​Disguised as a translation of a rediscovered Japanese text, Taiwan Travelogue beautifully unburies lost colonial histories and sharply reveals how institutional power dynamics seep into our most intimate human relationships.