Description
An Indigenous hunter laments the decline in the flying squirrel population and reflects on how animals perceive the world. In a drought-stricken cyberpunk anytown, kids revolt against the grown-ups only to face off with stray dogs over water. During late-night diving sessions, a researcher encounters a mysterious group of ocean-dwelling people with gills. In an overpopulated future, marrying an AI spouse will raise a human's credit score. A man follows the trail of an extinct leopard, seeking to unravel a metafictional mystery left behind by his late wife.
This anthology showcases cutting-edge works on ecological themes by essential and emerging Taiwanese authors, revealing the vitality of their engagements with environmental crises. Taiwan is a biodiversity hotspot and geopolitical flashpoint, home to both Indigenous peoples and settlers. The pieces collected in A Taiwanese Ecoliterature Reader give voice to this human and more-than-human diversity, telling tales that are disturbing yet hopeful, serious yet sensuous, speculative yet grounded, down to earth yet spanning the seas. They span Indigenous eco-writing, oceanic hybrid narratives, ecological sci-fi, and speculative Indigenous fiction. Together, these stories navigate the landscapes of Taiwanese ecoliterature, illuminating its past and pointing toward its future.
About the Author
Ian Rowen is an associate professor in the Institute for Advanced Study at Kyushu University. His books include Transitions in Taiwan: Stories of the White Terror (2021).
Ti-han Chang is a senior teaching fellow and the deputy director of the Centre of Taiwan Studies at SOAS, University of London. Her books include Reorienting Taiwan: Ocean, Selfhood, and the Pacific (2025).
Darryl Sterk is an associate professor of translation at Lingnan University. He has translated works by a number of Taiwanese writers, including Syaman Rapongan's Eyes of the Ocean (Columbia, 2025).
Reviews
A Taiwanese Ecoliterature Reader provides a welcoming and authoritative introduction to one of the world's richest traditions of environmental storytelling. Ranging from Indigenous tales of animal encounters to queer speculative fiction and posthumanist climate fiction, the beautifully translated works in this anthology are a valuable resource for teachers, scholars, and general readers. -- Scott Slovic, Oregon Research Institute, coeditor of Ecocriticism in Taiwan
This remarkable volume of expert translations of Taiwanese environmental and ecologically themed creative writing brings together a refreshingly diverse set of narratives that illuminate Taiwan's past and engage with its future. By making these powerful voices accessible to English-language readers globally, A Taiwanese Ecoliterature Reader impressively expands the possibilities of ecological thought and narrative across cultures. -- Karen L. Thornber, Harvard University
A must-read collection that exemplifies Taiwan's position as a 'critical zone' for exploring the ecological crisis, showcasing bold literary works from the 1990s to the 2020s. Through the eyes of flying fish, clouded leopards, humanoid whales, and queer cyborgs, these stories invite readers to embrace planetary thinking, blending Indigenous ecological knowledge with speculative fiction. -- Robin Visser, author of Questioning Borders: Ecoliteratures of China and Taiwan
Book Information
ISBN 9780231222389
Author Ian Rowen
Format Paperback
Page Count 200
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press
This anthology showcases cutting-edge works on ecological themes by essential and emerging Taiwanese authors, revealing the vitality of their engagements with environmental crises. Taiwan is a biodiversity hotspot and geopolitical flashpoint, home to both Indigenous peoples and settlers. The pieces collected in A Taiwanese Ecoliterature Reader give voice to this human and more-than-human diversity, telling tales that are disturbing yet hopeful, serious yet sensuous, speculative yet grounded, down to earth yet spanning the seas. They span Indigenous eco-writing, oceanic hybrid narratives, ecological sci-fi, and speculative Indigenous fiction. Together, these stories navigate the landscapes of Taiwanese ecoliterature, illuminating its past and pointing toward its future.
About the Author
Ian Rowen is an associate professor in the Institute for Advanced Study at Kyushu University. His books include Transitions in Taiwan: Stories of the White Terror (2021).
Ti-han Chang is a senior teaching fellow and the deputy director of the Centre of Taiwan Studies at SOAS, University of London. Her books include Reorienting Taiwan: Ocean, Selfhood, and the Pacific (2025).
Darryl Sterk is an associate professor of translation at Lingnan University. He has translated works by a number of Taiwanese writers, including Syaman Rapongan's Eyes of the Ocean (Columbia, 2025).
Reviews
A Taiwanese Ecoliterature Reader provides a welcoming and authoritative introduction to one of the world's richest traditions of environmental storytelling. Ranging from Indigenous tales of animal encounters to queer speculative fiction and posthumanist climate fiction, the beautifully translated works in this anthology are a valuable resource for teachers, scholars, and general readers. -- Scott Slovic, Oregon Research Institute, coeditor of Ecocriticism in Taiwan
This remarkable volume of expert translations of Taiwanese environmental and ecologically themed creative writing brings together a refreshingly diverse set of narratives that illuminate Taiwan's past and engage with its future. By making these powerful voices accessible to English-language readers globally, A Taiwanese Ecoliterature Reader impressively expands the possibilities of ecological thought and narrative across cultures. -- Karen L. Thornber, Harvard University
A must-read collection that exemplifies Taiwan's position as a 'critical zone' for exploring the ecological crisis, showcasing bold literary works from the 1990s to the 2020s. Through the eyes of flying fish, clouded leopards, humanoid whales, and queer cyborgs, these stories invite readers to embrace planetary thinking, blending Indigenous ecological knowledge with speculative fiction. -- Robin Visser, author of Questioning Borders: Ecoliteratures of China and Taiwan
Book Information
ISBN 9780231222389
Author Ian Rowen
Format Paperback
Page Count 200
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press
