Taipei: "Taiwan Travelogue," a novel by Taiwanese writer Yang Shuang-zi, is among the six shortlisted titles for the 2026 International Booker Prize, marking the first time a Taiwanese author has reached the final stage of the prestigious award. The Booker Prize Foundation announced the six finalists chosen from a longlist of 13 titles, which had been narrowed down from an initial 128 submissions. According to Focus Taiwan, the annual prize acknowledges works of fiction translated into English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. Author-translator pairs who make the shortlist will receive £5,000 (US$6,620), and the winners, to be announced on May 19, will split a £50,000 grand prize. The foundation highlighted that the novel's appearance on the shortlist represents the first time a Taiwanese writer has made the cut, and a victory would be historic for Taiwan. This year's shortlist includes writers and translators from eight countries: Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, Bulgari a, Canada, France, and Germany. Notably, five of the six shortlisted authors and four of the six shortlisted translators are women. The selected works were originally written in five languages: Chinese, Bulgarian, French, German, and Portuguese. First published in 2020, "Taiwan Travelogue" is set in 1938 and is a historical fiction work exploring friendship and colonial identity through a culinary journey across Taiwan. It has been translated into several languages, including Japanese, English, and Korean. Its English translator, Lin King, previously won the U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature for her work on the novel, another first for Taiwanese literature. In Taipei, Culture Minister Li Yuan congratulated Yang, expressing gratitude for her role in bringing Taiwan to global attention through literature. The Ministry of Culture stated that the novel's international success was supported by government initiatives, including a youth creative grant and a translation funding program. Additionall y, the cultural division of the Taipei Representative Office in the United Kingdom is planning a series of literary talks and book signings across Britain later this year featuring Yang and King.