We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Ping Lu’s To the East of the East, translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang and published by World Editions, has been longlisted for the 2026 National Book Award in Translated Literature, making it our seventh National Book Award Honoree in six years!
The nomination is the last in a string of awards and recognitions for World Editions, who have published four National Book Award Finalists and three National Book Award longlistees in only six years. It marks only the second time that a novel from Taiwan was recognized by the National Book Awards, and presents a long-overdue acknowledgement for “notable Singaporean
novelist/translator Tiang” who “expertly anglophones Lu’s polyphonic mosaic.” Terry Hong, Booklist
In To the East of the East, Min-Hui’s travels from Taiwan to Beijing in search of her vanished husband in this multi-layered meditation on marriage and freedom.
While chasing business opportunities in China, Min-Hui’s husband disappears without a trace, forcing her to uproot her quiet life as a writer in Taiwan and travel to Beijing, where the chaos of the city leaves her reeling. Does the Chinese government truly have her best interests at heart, and how hard are the authorities looking for her missing husband?
Marooned in the ancient capital, Min-Hui encounters the enigmatic Shangjun, a self-proclaimed human rights activist who seeks refuge in her hotel room. As their relationship blooms, Min-Hui allows him to read her novel in progress: a young Qing emperor confined within the Forbidden City becomes fascinated by pirate merchant Zheng Zhilong’s tales of the Taiwanese seas. All the while, Min-Hui contemplates the discord in the marriage she is desperate to save. Exploring the universal longing for freedom with her signature multi-layered narrative, Ping Lu interweaves Min-Hui’s search for her husband and her Beijing love affair with the historical backstory of her novel and unsent letters from her vanished husband.
To the East of the East offers a profound meditation on liberation, destiny and the contingencies of national histories by one of Taiwan’s most sophisticated contemporary voices.
National Book Awards Honorees
2026 Longlistee
To the East of the East by Ping Lu • Translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang (November 3, 2026 • Trade Paperback • 978-1-64286-167-9 • WORLD)
2024 Finalist
Where the Wind Calls Home by Samar Yazbek • Translated from the Arabic by Leri Price (Trade Paperback • 978-1-64286-135-8 • WORLD)
2023 Finalist
Abyss by Pilar Quintana • Translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman (Trade Paperback • 978-1-64286-122-8 • WORLD)
2021 Finalist
Planet of Clay by Samar Yazbek • Translated from the Arabic by Leri Price (Trade Paperback • 978-1-64286-101-3 • WORLD)
2021 Longlistee
Waiting for the Waters to Rise by Maryse Condé • Translated from the French by Richard Philcox (Trade Paperback • 978-1-64286-073-3 • WORLD)
2020 Longlistee
The Helios Disaster by Linda Boström Knausgård • Translated from the Swedish by Rachel Willson-Broyles (Trade Paperback • 978-1-64286-068-9 • WORLD)
2020 Finalist
The Bitch by Pilar Quintana • Translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman – no longer available