Chung Wen-yin’s (鍾文音) Farewell (別送) has won the top prize at this year’s Taiwan Literature Awards, the National Museum of Taiwan Literature announced on Thursday.
After two rounds of reviews, Farewell, published by RyeField Publishing Co, was selected from a record 235 submissions this year, winning the Annual Golden Book Grand Prize and taking home NT$1 million (US$35,945) in prize money, it said.
Chung’s latest novel follows a woman’s long journey to Tibet after a change in family circumstances. In the freezing air of the plateau, she explores enlightenment and ruminates on life in a temple, city, wilderness and burial ground, the publisher said.
The judges described Farewell as “a magnificent, 410,000-word send-off,” lauding its dense writing and emotion.
However, although the topic is farewell, the story never truly lets go, the museum said.
Seven Golden Book awards and three Flower Bud awards were also given.
The seven Golden Book winners, who are to receive NT$150,000 each include Hung Ai-chu (洪愛珠) for Old-School Taipei Girl’s Shopping List (老派少女購物路線), her debut work about food and memory; Lo Chih-cheng (羅智成) for Desolate Candy Store (荒涼糖果店), a fantastical verse novel; and Chang Hsiao-hung (張小虹) for The Wigs of Eileen Chang (張愛玲的假髮), an academic work on Eileen Chang (張愛玲).
The four other winners are Ping Lu (平路) for The Gaps (間隙:寫給受折磨的你), a collection of essays about illness and healing; Huang Chong-kai (黃崇凱) for The Formosa Exchange (新寶島), a novel that explores the history of Taiwan; Hsu Chen-fu (徐振輔) for Taming Sheep (馴羊記), a book that records his life and observations in Tibet; and Zhen Egoyan (伊格言) for Zero Degrees of Separation (零度分離), an apocalyptic sci-fi work on artificial intelligence.
Winners of the Flower Bud Award, which recognizes up-and-coming writers publishing for the first time and comes with a NT$150,000 prize, are: Apyang Imiq (程廷) forFrom a Tree Hollow (我長在打開的樹洞), a collection of essays that explores his Aboriginal and queer identity; Chen Tsung-hui (陳宗暉) for The Farthest Place I’ve Been (我所去過最遠的地方), a collection of essays describes the author’s illness; and Hsu’s Taming Sheep.
The awards ceremony is to take place on Nov. 13 at the Hilton Taipei Sinban Hotel and is to be streamed live on the award’s Facebook page.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RSS