International Booker Prize winner Yáng Shuāng-zi: ‘We still live under a colonial regime’

1. 1. Yáng Shuāng-zi's International Booker Prize-winning novel, "Taiwan Travelogue," was initially published with a literary hoax, presenting its Taiwanese author as a Japanese translator.
2. 2. Yáng explained that Taiwanese readers' willingness to accept the literary hoax stemmed from their intense desire to understand their history from 100 years ago.
3. 3. The International Booker Prize win for "Taiwan Travelogue" is groundbreaking, marking the first time a Taiwanese writer and a Sinophone novel have claimed the award.
4. 4. Yáng Shuāng-zi identifies with a generational shift of Taiwanese writers focused on portraying Taiwan as distinct from China and critically examining its colonial past.
5. 5. Yáng's novel explores themes of language, history, power, and features a "bittersweet story of love between two women" set against a backdrop of cultural discovery.
6. 6. Translator Lin King enhanced the English translation with extensive footnotes and has committed to exclusively translating works from Taiwan moving forward.
7. 7. Yáng Shuāng-zi views writing as a vital method to process her thoughts and assert Taiwanese agency on the international stage.