As you’ll know recently I’ve been busily editing and finalising details of Tâigael: Stories from Taiwanese & Gaelic the book I’m publishing via my indie press Wind&Bones Books.
Tâigael is a first-of-its-kind collaborative writing and translation project, bringing together writers from Scotland and Taiwan, to explore language, translation and culture. The book was initially supported by a grant from the Scottish Government’s Scottish Connections Fund.
Ahead of the 15th June publication date I thought I’d share the endorsements we’ve received for the story collection so far.
This project has been a lot of work and a lot of fun and I am just delighted to have such fantastic words from supporters and readers of the book already!
“I am grateful for the publication of this book. A mother tongue is the root of culture, and a culture that loses its mother tongue is like a plant without roots. This book will greatly inspire the promotion of language equality and literary translation.”
—Li Yuan 李遠 (Taiwan), screenwriter and Taiwan Minister for Culture
“In this imaginative and profoundly original book, two seemingly distant worlds—Scottish Gaelic and Taiwanese communities—are brought into resonant dialogue through their suppressed languages, enduring myths, and local beliefs. Both Scotland and Taiwan, small democracies with rich and complex histories, emerge here as sites of cultural resilience and deep-rooted memory. Beautifully translated across four languages, these evocative and subtle stories show, as editors Hannah Stevens and Will Buckingham put it, what it means to seek out connections that might bind us more closely.”
—Michelle Kuo 郭怡慧 (Taiwan), author of Reading With Patrick
“Four thoughtful and thought-provoking stories in conversation across languages and cultures—how exciting, and how necessary! This marvellous anthology, full of grace and wit, shows how writers and indeed whole literatures thrive when in contact with other voices.”
—Garry MacKenzie (Scotland): author of Scotland: a Literary Guide for Travellers & Ben Dorain: a conversation with a mountain
“Here, the scattered voices of Taiwanese and Scottish Gaelic meet. Stories rooted in our mother tongues that glow like the sunlight of early spring—these are tales that, in their gentleness, quietly burn.”
—Lêkun Tân 陳麗君 (Taiwan), professor of Taiwanese literature, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan
“Languages are the vehicles of culture; they carry the spirit of their origins from generation to generation. Tâigael is an innovative work created by writers from Taiwan and Scotland, presenting culture-based stories in four languages and five writing systems. It is an important vehicle that brings life to these beautiful cultures worth preserving. I am truly honoured to be one of the first readers of this impressive work!”
—Wen Ruoqiao 温若喬 (Taiwan), translator and poet
“Tâigael: Stories from Taiwanese & Gaelic draws parallels between two marginalised territories, Scotland and Taiwan, showing how communication between minority-language writers is not only possible but desirable. Though two quite different national-linguistic contexts are celebrated and maintained here, a shared preoccupation with certain concerns—present-day feminism perhaps foremost among these—animates this unique quadrille of stories (and tellers) beyond their languages of transmission.”
—Colin Bramwell (Scotland), poet and translator
“A new generation of writers from two countries writing in their mother tongues—Taiwanese and Gaelic—allowing languages that are less often read to engage in an unprecedented dialogue of literature and culture, with translation as a medium. This anthology adds diverse voices and colours to world literature, making its significance particularly profound.”
—Xiang Yang 向陽 (Taiwan), poet
“Stories told well and without fear invite us in, so we can travel in the depths of their inspiration. In this innovative collection, East and West become travel partners, opening crucial doors between Taiwanese and Gaelic creativity. What a lovely partnership. How much they have to tell each other, late into the night; and how rich our sharing becomes!”
—Martin MacIntyre (Scotland), author, Bàrd and storyteller
Language is the essence of culture, and native languages shape the collective memory of a nation. I am grateful for the publication of this book, which allows us to bear witness to the literary vitality sparked by mother-tongue creativity. Through a cross-linguistic and cross-cultural collaboration between Taiwan and Scotland, this is a book that brings into being a profoundly moving cultural exchange.
—Taiwan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lin Chia-lung 林佳龍
