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| >> GREETINGS FROM THE DIRECTOR |
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Dear readers, This year is the 400th anniversary of the founding of NMTL’s home city of Tainan, and we have a cornucopia of events spread out throughout the year to celebrate this grand occasion! Tainan was the first city of Taiwan to open to the wider world, and still preserves the history of those who immigrated here. Besides the Anniversary Celebration: Tainan 400 Mail Art exhibition, NMTL is also holding a special exhibition, Layers of Literature, City of Stories: Traversing 400 Years of Literary History, highlighting the literary influences that have accompanied every wave of immigration to this island. In July last year, NMTL signed a memorandum of understanding with Leiden University Libraries, opening up many opportunities for our two institutions to collaborate. The most important artifact in the upcoming exhibition is the “Letter from Zheng Jing to Balthasar Bort, Admiral of the Dutch Fleet,” handwritten by Zheng Jing, the son of Koxinga. This document, which details the Age of Discovery negotiations between Zheng Jing and the Dutch, is on loan from Leiden University Libraries, and will be on display in Taiwan for the first time. NMTL has recently launched Podcast Taiwan, inviting Dr. Lee Moore to introduce listeners to the major works and figures of Taiwan literature. Perk up your ears to hear Dr. Moore’s discussions of the issues around Indigenous peoples, gender, ecology, and more. NMTL is also committed to giving voice to migrant workers who have come to Taiwan in recent years by assisting with the organization of the Taiwan Literature Award for Migrants. Through these awards, migrants from Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar, and elsewhere can recount their stories of striving to pursue their dreams in a foreign land, in their own mother tongues. In the eyes of an author, how visible is Taiwan literature? The Japanese edition of Yang Shuang Zi’s Taiwan Travelogue has won the 10th Japan's Best Translation Award, the first work of literature from Taiwan to do so – and the English edition is set to be published in November this year. In this issue of our newsletter, Yang Shuang Zi shares her impressions from a fall 2022 visit to bookstores in Europe. NMTL is committed to blazing a trail for Taiwan literature, to give readers around the world opportunities to read and interact with these marvelous works. NMTL Director,
Nikky Lin |
| >> NEWS |
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 Historical Documents Offer Glimpse into the Age of Discovery
byLo Yu-Lun
Translated byGregory Laslo
Tainan was the first city of Taiwan to open to the wider world, and it preserves the history of those who immigrated and put down roots here. In testimony to the literary culture that accompanied each wave of immigrants, NMTL will hold a special exhibition, Layers of Literature, City of Stories: Traversing 400 Years of Literary History, to showcase the vast literary treasures created by the people of Tainan over the last four centuries. | read more
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 Taiwan Literature, On Air
byHsiao An-Kai
Translated byGregory Laslo
In order to promote the development of Taiwan literature abroad and bring Taiwan literature to the attention of non-native readers, NMTL is sallying forth into the world of podcasts! Podcast Taiwan has been founded with the mission of spreading content related to Taiwan literature, culture, history, and more.
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 Hearing Their Voices — NMTL and the 9th Taiwan Literature Award for Migrants
byChao Ching-Hwa
Translated byMelanie A. Leng
The Taiwan Literature Award for Migrants, currently the only literary award in Taiwan focused on migrant workers, has entered its ninth year. NMTL has long been committed to the promotion of Taiwan literature and the fulfillment of its social responsibility as a museum. This year, much time and effort has been devoted to co-organize this meaningful event once again.
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 Taiwan Will Not Exist, Unless…
byYang Shuang Zi (楊双子)
Translated byMelanie A. Leng
In the autumn of 2022, I briefly visited Europe and took the opportunity to visit several bookstores in Barcelona, Spain; Bologna, Italy; and Paris, France. Sizeable bookstores typically have a relatively large selection of translated books from various Asian countries, especially Japan, whose best-selling manga is quite popular. I wasn't surprised by the popularity of Japanese manga, but rather the wide variety of book genres: from manga novels, picture books, and popular literature, to art books, cookbooks, and even general books on singular topics like ramen culture. The list goes on and on. |
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| >> EVENTS |
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Third Compilation of Literature-Adapted Dramatic Scripts, The Era When Love Was Forged, Now Published Online 
The Era When Love Was Forged is the product of collaboration between NMTL and the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying). This compilation of literature-adapted dramatic scripts, the third of its kind, was published online in May on both websites for the public to peruse. Workshop participants assembled the compilation around the theme of love, adapting works of Taiwan literature into stage plays of four to six minutes each, touching on issues of ethnicity, gender, different generations, and so forth. Everything about the productions – the lines, the set design, the mise-en-scène – combines to give the audience a new space to imagine Taiwan literature.
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NMTL and BCLT Promote the Advanced Translation Workshop for Taiwan Literature
NMTL, the Cultural Division of the Taipei Representative Office in the U.K., and the British Centre for Literary Translation (BCLT) are promoting a brand new event: the Advanced Translation Workshop for Taiwan Literature. This three-day online workshop, to be held in November, is intended to produce translations of selected works of Taiwan literature and proposals for promotional material. The BCLT is recruiting experienced, published translators to attend; those who are admitted will have their attendance fully subsidized by NMTL. Entrants will select works from the list of winners of the Taiwan Literature Awards for Books held by NMTL. Through sharing and discussion with their mentors, publishers, and other participants, they will complete translations of their chosen works and learn to create promotional samples to send to publishers.
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Countries Come Together for the 2024 United Nations of Stories 
NMTL is partnering with several representative offices in Taiwan to hold the United Nations of Stories series of activities. On selected Saturdays between April 20th and October 26th, stories introducing the sports cultures of different countries will be told, reflecting the theme of “the many faces of sports.” Teachers from Taiwan, the US, Argentina, Canada, St. Lucia, France, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, Ukraine, and elsewhere will read books from their native countries and lead children in reading and learning about competitive sports from around the world.
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May 18th International Museum Day Activities 
Every year, NMTL organizes International Museum Day events centered on the theme chosen by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). This year, the theme was “Museums for Education and Research.” On May 18th and 19th, NMTL held literature walks, puzzle games, postcard printing workshops, sign-language tours, and more, bringing together literature lovers in one great event.
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Yuko Miura’s Translation of Yang Shuang Zi’s Taiwan Travelogue Wins Japan's Best Translation Award 
Taiwan writer Yang Shuang Zi’s 2020 novel, Taiwan Travelogue, translated into Japanese by Yuko Miura (2023, Chuokoron-Shinsha), has been selected as the winner of the 10th Japan's Best Translation Award in 2024. This work’s main character is a fictional Japanese writer traveling through Japanese colonial-period Taiwan. Chapters are connected by the Taiwan cuisine she eats as she travels along the Western Trunk Railway Line. This is the first time a work from Taiwan has won this award, and will contribute to fostering further international understanding of Taiwan literature.
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Bonjour! French Picture Book Storytelling
French Picture Book Storytelling is a popular event held by the Taiwan Literature Base and the Alliance Française de Taïwan. This year, selected Saturday afternoons from April to August will be dedicated to sharing French picture books with visitors of all ages. In June, a reading of Le loup qui voulait changer de couleur (The Wolf Who Wanted to Change His Color) will pair with the well-received exhibit Beyond Anthropocentrism: Animals in Taiwan Literature. We welcome everyone to explore the Francophone world!
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| >> BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS |
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 | 炒飯狙撃手 The Sniper (Japanese edition, translated by Makoto Tamada)
Chang Kuo-Li (張國立) |
| In Europe, a sniper from Taiwan working under the guise of a fried-rice chef finds himself caught in the crosshairs after completing a mission. Meanwhile, while in the middle of investigating a series of major cases, a police officer on the edge of retirement is dispatched to Rome to look into the death of a government official. In this thriller from Taiwan, Chang Kuo-Li links these two disparate characters through a serial murder case that leads to uncovering a massive conspiracy on an international scale.
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 | Stroiciel fortepianów The Piano Tuner (Polish edition, translated by Katarzyna Sarek)
Kuo Chiang-Sheng (郭強生)
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| A widower grieving the death of his pianist wife meets a piano tuner, once a musical prodigy, who has given up on his dreams. The two become business partners and embark on a journey to search for a certain piano. Through music, Kuo Chiang-Sheng connects the subtleties of the soul with the desires and grievances of the flesh. Like a somber piano tune, Kuo's writing evokes feelings of perplexity and melancholy over the passage of time. An English edition translated by Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin was published in January 2023.
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 | Letzte Worte vom Montmartre Last Words from Montmartre (German edition, translated by Martina Hasse)
Qiu Miaojin (邱妙津)
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| Formed from a flock of letters crossing cities, cultures, languages, and genders, this book portrays the love, pain, and dreams of the protagonist's life in a foreign country. Qiu Miaojin dives into the human desires for love, sex, and death, culminating in art achieved in death. Akin to a self-portrait, Qiu's final work is a genre-bending novel that is at once a psychological thriller and a sublime romance.
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 | A Taiwanese Literature Reader Loā Hô, Yang K'uei, Zhu Dianren, Long Yingzong, Wu Yong-fu, Wang Chang- hsiung Edited by Nikky Lin Translated by Chris Wen-Chao Li, Kyle Shernuk, Darryl Sterk, Edward Vickers |
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 | A History of Taiwan Literature Ye Shitao Translated by Christopher Lupke |
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 | The Soul of Jade Mountain Husluman Vava Translated by Terence Russell |
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 | A Son of Taiwan: Stories of Government Atrocity Wu Zhuoliu, Ye Shitao, Lay Chih-ying, Li Ang, Lee Yu, Walis Nokan Edited by Howard Goldblatt, Sylvia Li-chun Lin Translated by Sylvia Li-chun Lin , Howard Goldblatt, Craig A. Smith, Darryl Sterk, Jewel Lo, Dafydd Fell, Chris Wen- chao Li, Edward Vickers |
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 | Transitions in Taiwan: Stories of the White Terror Chu Tien-hsin, Huang Chun-ming, Sung Tse-lai, Huang Chong-kai, Li Ang, Wu Chin-fa, Wu He Edited by Ian Rowen Translated by Sylvia Li-chun Lin, Howard Goldblatt, Ian Rowen, Brian Skerratt, Chris Wen-chao Li, Terence Russell |
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 | Queer Taiwanese Literature: A Reader Ta-wei Chi, Dadelavan Ibau, Hsu Yu-chen, Lin Yu- hsuan, Chen Xue Edited by Howard Chiang Translated by Yichun Liu, Jamie Tse, Yahia Zhengtang Ma, Kyle Shernuk, Howard Chiang, Shengchi Hsu, Wen-chi Li, Colin Bramwell |
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 | 台湾文学ブックカフェ１：女性作家集 蝶のしるし 江鵝、章緣、ラムル・パカウヤン、盧慧心、平路、柯裕棻、張亦絢、陳雪 Edited by 呉佩珍、白水紀子、山口守
Translated by 白水紀子 |
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 | 台湾文学ブックカフェ２：中篇小説集 バナナの木殺し 邱常婷、王定国、周芬伶 Edited by 呉佩珍、白水紀子、山口守
Translated by 池上貞子 |
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 | 台湾文学ブックカフェ３：短篇小説集 プールサイド 陳思宏、鍾旻瑞、陳柏 言、黄麗群、李桐豪、方 清純、陳淑瑤、呉明益、 ワリス・ノカン、川貝母、 甘耀明 Edited by 呉佩珍、白水紀子、山口守
Translated by 三須祐介 |
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 | Vzpomínky a sny na obratníku Raka Tchung Wej-ke, Lü Che- žuo, Syaman Rapongan, Walis Nokan, Jang Čao, Li Jü, Čchiou Miao-ťin, Luo I-ťün, Wu Ming-i, Chuang Čchung-kchaj Translated by Pavlína Krámská, Jana Heřmanová, Jana Šimonová, Petr Janda, František Reismüller |
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 | Formosana: Histoires de démocratie à Taiwan Walis Nokan, Lay Chih-ying, Yang Chao, Wuhe, Lai Hsiang-yin, Chen Yu-hsuan, Chou Fen-ling, Huang Chong-kai, Wu Ming-yi Edited by Gwennaël Gaffric Translated by Stéphane Corcuff, Gwennaël Gaffric, Coraline Jortay, Matthieu Kolatte, Damien Ligot, Lucie Modde, Emmanuelle Péchenart |
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 | Von Wahrsagern und Technofrauen: Erzählungen zeitgenössischer Autorinnen aus Taiwan Chen Youjin, Huang Liqu, Ke Yufen, Lai Xiangyi, Lin Xinhui, Qiu Changting, Zhang Yixuan, Zhong Wenyi Edited by Hsu An-Nie Translated by Marc Hermann, Brigitte Höhenrieder und Hans Peter Hoffmann |
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 | Warten auf den Zug Cheng Ying-shu Edited by Hans Peter Hoffmann und Brigitte Höhenrieder Translated by Linda Förster, Anna Maria Gimenez Hecht, Lisa Heinrich, Hans Peter Hoffmann, Julie Gabriela Schreiber, Svenja Schreiner, Agnieszka Joanna Surdyka, Theresa Sychi Stoelzel- Elsner, Laura Ull-Mendez, Martin Zamoryn |
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 | Tajwan na końcu języka Lin Hai-Yin, Julia Hsiao, Tzeng, Ching-Wen, Badai, Li Ang, Kaori Lai, Huang Chung-Kai, Min-de Ang Translated by Hanna Gau, Katarzyna Proctor, Katarzyna Sarek, Maciej Szatkowski |
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Chief Editor Nikky Lin | Executive Editor Yeh I-Hsin Peng Chien-Sen |
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Editors | Cheng Peng-Shen | Hou Wei-Chia | Wang Ya-Shan |
Chin Tzu-Chun | Huang Wei-Chih | Wang Lin-Jhu |
Gregory Laslo | Lin Pei-Jung | Melanie A. Leng
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ABOUT NMTL | Founded in 2003, NMTL is Taiwan’s first national-level museum dedicated to the literary arts.
NMTL records, organizes and interprets Taiwan’s literary heritage, from indigenous Austronesian cultures and the Dutch, Koxinga, Qing, and Japanese colonial periods, through to the present day. |
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