Taiwanese author Yang Shuangzi has won the 2026 Man Booker International Prize for English-language literature for her novel "A Taiwanese Travelogue," British author Natasha Brown, chair of the jury, announced at a ceremony in London.
Yang Shuangzi won the prestigious award for her historical novel, written in Chinese. The novel is set in 1938, when Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule, and its chapters are by Japanese writer Aoyama Chijiko.
Yang Shuangzi will receive 50,000 British pounds ($67,000). According to the rules, the winner must share the prize with the book's English translator, Lin King.
“A Taiwanese Travelogue“ became the first Chinese-language book to win the prize. According to the organizing committee, the novel, which covers a variety of topics - from colonialism and power to love, class relations, the status of women in society and traditional cuisine - became an instant hit among Chinese-speaking readers after its release in 2020. Presented as a translated memoir by a traveler who visited Taiwan in the 1930s, the book has led many to believe that it is an authentic translation from Japanese of recently discovered notes.
The “Booker“ Prize was established in 1968 and was awarded for the first time the following year. Until 2013, the prize was only awarded to English-speaking authors living in a Commonwealth country, Ireland or Zimbabwe. However, the organizing committee subsequently allowed nominations for books by authors from other countries, written in English and published in the United Kingdom. In 2025, the prize was awarded to Indian writer Banu Mushtaq for her novel “Lamp in the Heart“.