2021 TLA New Bud Award

About the Book
After decades away from his roots, award-winning Taiwanese Indigenous writer Apyang Imiq narrates the stories of his people, the Truku, and his return to a tribal community in early adulthood. Here, he writes of the struggles and synergies he
encountered as a gay man and late returnee to the people and traditions of his community.

Judge Commentary
Words here do not necessarily signify only one thing: bhring means both wind and spiritual force, while gaya can indicate both norms and taboos. Language also takes on new meanings with the times, as in hagay, which denotes a two-spirited person and also once referred to the shamans of the tribe. Words are sown and sprouted like rice, relationships become interwoven with sentences. The labor of writing tills the field, a previous era is recouped by diligent practice. With hands that were worked to the bone, a modern shaman weaves a six-colored rainbow bridge.