The Taiwan Academy of the Taipei Economic and Culture Office in Los Angeles, with the support of the Ministry of Culture in Taiwan, is pleased to invite the authors and translators of “Taiwan Travelogue,” Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and Lin King, and also the winners of the American National Award for Translation Literature, to further explore their creativity during their book tour from February 18 to 20, 2025.
“Taiwan Travelogue” was released by Graywolf Press in the United States under Taiwan’s Grant for the Publication of Taiwanese Works (GPT). By incorporating historical materials, Yáng Shuāng-zǐ deftly creates a Japanese female traveler, Miss Chizuko, and a Taiwanese interpreter, Miss Chizuru, for a 1938 culinary and railroad journey throughout the island. In addition to documenting Taiwanese cuisine and culture, the journey examines the women's relationship and the conflict between Japanese and Taiwanese people during Japanese colonial rule.
Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and Lin King convey their enthusiasm for this journey. Yáng sees either the English-language publication of this book or the discussions throughout the trip as a chance to broaden one's perspective on Taiwan, including its ethnic, linguistic, and culinary traditions. Not only did she state that Taiwan is the country that invented boba tea, but she also asked why, highlighting the intricacy of Taiwan's history over the past century. King says this is her first time reaching American audiences since winning the American National Award. The conversation between Taiwan and the United States should be entirely different. As a native Taiwanese, she believes that the discussion on this book would provide American listeners a greater understanding of Taiwan, and as a translator, she anticipates hearing opinions and ideas from a variety of perspectives.
The book tour will make stops at UCLA, UCI, UCSB, Chapman University, and the Skylight Bookstore. Charles Yu, the 2020 winner of the National Book Awards for his book “Interior Chinatown,” will serve as the moderator at Skylight Bookstore.
【Taiwan Travelogue Book Tour Southern California】
▪Feb 18th @ 12:00 p.m.
Chapman University, Orange—Beckman Hall Room 404
https://reurl.cc/5DL5VR
▪ Feb 18th @ 4:30 p.m.
University of California, Irvine—Humanities Gateway 1030
https://reurl.cc/5Dzqev
▪ Feb 19th @ 9:30 a.m.
University of California, Los Angeles—Kaplan Hall Room A51
https://reurl.cc/04ROLK
▪ Feb 19th @ 7:00 p.m.
Skylight Bookstore, Los Angeles
https://reurl.cc/KdRjZq
The author of "Interior Chinatown," who won the 2020 US National Book Award, will serve as the moderator.
▪ Feb 20th @ 3:30 p.m.
University of California, Santa Barbara—Harold Frank Hall 1104
https://reurl.cc/b3ARMo
The Author: Yáng Shuang-zi
Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, whose real name is Yang Jo-Tzu, is a versatile writer from Taichung, Taiwan. She dabbles in various forms, including fiction, essays, manga scripts, and literary criticism.
In 2020, she was named one of the Rising Stars of the Twenty-First Century by Wenshun magazine and was selected by Unitas magazine as one of the Twenty Most Promising Young Novelists. In 2021, she became the youngest-ever nominee for the United Daily News Literary Award, and in 2022, Wenshun magazine again recognized Yáng as a Representative Author of Twenty-First Century Taiwanese Popular Literature.
Her notable works include the novel The Season When Flowers Bloom (花開時節) in 2017, Taiwan Travelogue (臺灣漫遊錄) in 2020, No. 1, Siwei Street (四維街一號) in 2023, and the essay Neighbors with Chang Jih-Hsing(我家住在張日興隔壁) in 2020. Taiwan Travelogue received Taiwan’s highest literary honor—the Golden Tripod Award in 2021. In 2024, its Japanese translation won Japan’s Best Translation Award, while the English version earned the 75th Annual National Book Award for Translated Literature in the United States.
The Translator: Lin King
Lin King is a writer and translator based in Taipei and New York. Her fiction has appeared in One Story, Boston Review, and Joyland among others and has received the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers.
She is the translator of The Boy from Clearwater by Yu Pei-Yun and Zhou Jian-Xin, as well as Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, winner of the 2024 National Book Award in Translated Literature.