The National Museum of Taiwan Literature (NMTL) and publishing house Monomyth (英雄旅程股份有限公司) co-published a collection of the winning pieces from the 8th Taiwan Literature Award for Migrants (移民工文學獎) and held a book launch event on Jan. 14.
At the event, the NMTL Director Nikky Lin (林巾力) highlighted that, titled “Grass: There Is A Time To Wither And Spring, And A Time To Sprout Again (《草──榮枯有時，復返有時》),” the newly published book’s theme is “grass,” representing the migrants’ vitality and resilience in Taiwan. The works of the migrants are an important part of Taiwan’s literature, she added, and they help to foster multiculturalism in the country.
Award recipient Chin Nyap Fong (陳業芳) was an operator of the Foreign Worker Counseling and Protection 1955 hotline. She shared the hardships and powerlessness the migrants faced and the conflict between them and their employers.
Meanwhile, another awardee Ririn Arumsari (莉莉) said that though she participated in the literary competition since its inauguration, she was only able to win the award this time. She hopes that her stories can reach more people and she aims to write a full book in Chinese.
Established in 2014, the Taiwan Literature Award is aimed at encouraging immigrants and migrant workers in Taiwan to write their own stories in their mother language, allowing Taiwanese people to learn more about different cultures from different countries.
For more information on the publication, please see the NTML’s website.