Bookish Club with Beverley Wang

Beverley Wang delves into Taiwan Travelogue, Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s International Booker Prize-winning novel of language, history and power set in Japanese-occupied Taiwan.

Disguised as the translation of a rediscovered memoir, the book follows novelist Aoyama Chizuko, who sails from Nagasaki to Taiwan on the invitation of the then-ruling Japanese government.

With an insatiable appetite, Chizuko eschews the official banquets and sets out to eat her way around the island, accompanied by her Taiwanese interpreter. Over bowls of braised pork rice and scenic trains rides, she becomes infatuated with her companion, determined to draw her closer. Despite Chizuko’s overtures, a distance remains between them.

Join Beverley Wang and Jess Ho for a conversation about this many-layered novel that is both a story about sharing meals and a meditation on language, travel and how power dynamics shape and reshape even our most intimate relationships.

For 18+ audiences. Drinks and nibbles provided.