Photo: Bea Phi / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Yang Shuang-zi is one of those writers who lets the work do the arguing. Taiwan Travelogue, her 1920s-set novel of two women bound by railways and food, broke through globally on the strength of Lin King's translation, taking both the National Book Award for Translated Literature and the International Booker. What draws me is how she fuses tender intimacy with the heavy weight of colonial-era Taiwan without ever turning didactic. There is real intellectual rigor under the warmth, and a deep rootedness in place. I find writers like her, who carry a whole history lightly, far more compelling than any flashy resume could make them.
Overview
Yang Shuang-zi (simplified Chinese: 杨双子; traditional Chinese: 楊双子; pinyin: Yáng Shuāngzǐ; born Yang Jo-tzu; simplified Chinese: 杨若慈; traditional Chinese: 楊若慈; pinyin: Yáng Ruòcí; born 10 July 1984) is a Taiwanese writer. Her novel Taiwan Travelogue (2020), translated into English by Lin King, won the 2024 National Book Award for Translated Literature and the 2026 International Booker Prize.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Yang Shuang-zi
- Name (Japanese)
- 楊双子
- Reading
- やん・しゅあんず
- Born
- July 10, 1984 (age 41)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Rat
- Origin
- Wuri District, Taiwan
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- novelist / writer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- National Chung Hsing University
Awards & achievements
- 2024 National Book Award for Translated Literature
- International Booker Prize
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Taiwan Travelogue | — |
6. Links
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%A5%8A%E5%8F%8C%E5%AD%90
Novelist — see all → · Writer — see all → · More people from Taiwan →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.