TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Award-winning “Taiwan Travelogue" author Yang Shuang-zi (楊双子) began a US book tour on Wednesday, per a culture ministry press release. 

Last November, “Taiwan Travelogue" made history as the first Taiwanese novel to win the National Book Award for Translated Literature, recognizing outstanding works of translated fiction or nonfiction published in the US. It also won Taiwan’s highest literary honor, the Golden Tripod Award, for its Mandarin publication in 2020, per CNA.

In “Taiwan Travelogue,” Yang takes readers through cuisines, customs, and landmarks in Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule in 1938. The main character sails from Japan to Taiwan, becoming intrigued with its culture through her Taiwanese interpreter. 

From Feb. 12 to 20, Yang and the book's translator Lin King (金翎) are scheduled to speak at eight events at universities and bookstores in New York and California. They will talk about the novel's inspiration and historical findings. 

The authors will also share their writing and translation process and the challenges of conveying cultural and emotional nuances to an international audience.  

The tour is supported by Taiwan's Ministry of Culture, the Taipei Cultural Center in New York, and the Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles. The Ministry of Culture hopes the tour will deepen US audiences' understanding and appreciation of Taiwanese literature and history in the global context.