Balestier Academic

Isle of the Austronesian: Indigeneity, World-Making and Taiwan brings together powerful literary and scholarly voices to explore the dynamic contours of Indigeneity in Taiwan. This anthology features poetry, stories, and essays that reflect on land, memory, identity, and ecological belongings. Highlighting perspectives often overlooked-queer, urban, and female Indigenous experiences-it showcases the richness and diversity of Taiwan’s Indigenous cultures. Writers such as Salizan Takisvilainan, Ahronglong Sakinu, Syaman Rapongan, Ma Yi-Hang, Apyang Imiq, and Liglav A-wu offer narratives rooted in both tradition and transformation. This anthology reimagines Taiwan not just as an East Asian society but as an oceanic and Austronesian world-making space, where Indigenous voices lead conversations on history, sovereignty, and cultural renewal.

Published in collaboration with the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Science and Technology Council, National Museum of Taiwan Literature, and National Taiwan University.

Table of Contents:

Preface:

A Thousand Words across the Miles: A Taiwanese Knowledge Experiment

Huang Chun-Ju

Two Forms of Knowledge, One Act of Reading: The Convergence of Academic Research and Literary Creation

Su Shuo-Bin

Introduction: Narrating the Isle: Indigeneity and the Remapping of Taiwanese Literature

Chang Ti-Han and Hsieh Hsin-Chin

A Concerto of Identities: A Brief History of Ethnic Consciousness among Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples

Sun Ta-Chuan (Paelabang Danapan). Adapted by Zhang Yi-Wen. Translated by Amanda Ruiqing Flynn

From the Moment We Parted Ways Austronesian beneath the Southern Cross

by Salizan Takisvilainan. Translated by Catherine Xinxin Yu

The Light and Shade of the Mountain Forests: The History of Land Use in Taiwan’s Mountainous Areas

Kuan Da-Wei (Daya). Adapted by Tsai Yi-Chen. Translated by Aoife Cantrill

The Wind Walker

Ahronglong Sakinu. Translated by Wang Jo-Hsuan

Sailing Towards the Austronesian World

Chen Chih-Fan

Adapted by Lin Chi-Han. Translated by Wang Jo-Hsuan

The Dorado’s Spirit

Syaman Rapongan. Translated by Kyle Shernuk

Where is Our Refuge? The Plight of Queer Indigenous People in Cities and in Their Communities

Ciwang Teyra, Huang Chao-Kai and Hsieh Wan-Rong. Adapted by Chang Hao-Tang. Translated by Aoife Cantrill

The Teacher’s Village

Ma Yi-Hang. Translated by Eleanor Goodman

Tminum Yaku, Weaving and Me

Apyang Imiq. Translated by Eleanor Goodman

The Journey of Indigenous Women

Yang Tsui. Adapted by Ring Anchi. Translated by Amanda Ruiqing Flynn

My Mother’s Juancun Days

Liglav A-wu. Translated by Catherine Xinxin Yu