Very excited to read the article “12 Must-Visit Bookstores in Taiwan” via @1000libraries (https://www.1000libraries.com/post/12-must-visit-bookstores-in-taiwan). Although I was recently in Taiwan – twice! – I did not have time to explore any bookstore, so it is great to know there are so many wonderful independent bookstores established in recent years.
I would like to dispute the claim “Taiwan is an emerging presence on the world’s literary stage”, but I guess the output of Taiwanese literature in English translation is rather insignificant when compared to Japan, South Korea and China, despite the excellent and continuous efforts of Taiwan’s government and literary agencies in recent decades. I suppose publishers and readers in the West are already familiar with Japanese and Korean literature in translation and are likely to sustain the trend for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, there is no doubt that people in the West will continue to be interested in China politically, economically and culturally.
For those interested in Taiwanese literature in translation, Electric Lit has an article in September 2024, by Kim Liao (image thanks to @the_kimlet) and titled “11 Books by Taiwanese and Taiwanese American Women”, which is a great start (https://electricliterature.com/11-books-by-taiwanese-and-taiwanese-american-women/).
Meanwhile, I would recommend Wu Ming-Yi’s The Man with the Compound Eyes (2011) and The Stolen Bicycle (2017), The Mermaid’s Tale by Lee Wei-Jing (2022), Ghost Town: A novel in 45 chapters by Kevin Chen (2022) – all three were translated by Darryl Stark, whom I had the pleasure to meet in 2015. Then there are Masked Dolls by Shih Chiung-Yu (translated by Wang Xinlin and Poppy Toland, 2016), Blurred boundaries: A martial arts legacy and the shaping of Taiwan by Hong Ze-han (translated by Christopher Bates, 2023), and Daughters of Shandong by Taiwanese American author Eve J. Chung (2024) – just to name a few. Please also check out Balestier Press (@balestierpress) and Honford Star (@honford_star), two publishers that have published Taiwanese literature in English translation.
(Day 81 #WarmWinterRead #WWR25 via @librarieschangelives)
Voices under the Sun 陽光下的聲音 