Book Event with Professor Kyle Shernuk on Translation of Eyes of the Sky

Join Professor Kyle Shernuk (Assistant Professor of Modern Chinese Literature & Culture, Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures, Georgetown University) at his upcoming book talk at JF Books in Dupont Circle celebrating the publication of his translation of Syaman Rapongan’s Eyes of the Sky.

Event: “Indigenous Taiwan & Syaman Rapongan’s Eyes of the Sky“
When: 6:00-7:30pm, March 19, 2026
Where: JF Books (1509 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036) 

Relevant links:  

(1) Sign up to attend the event
(2) Buy from Columbia University Press  (20% discount code in below CUP flyer!)
(3) Buy from Amazon

Syaman Rapongan is a chronicler of his people, the Tao, an Indigenous community who live on Orchid Island near the island of Taiwan. In Eyes of the Sky, he invites readers to learn the ways of this oceanic world—and to learn to see their own worlds anew through a Tao lens. Employing oral storytelling conventions, Eyes of the Sky opens by recounting the history of the Tao, from their mythic origins to the present day. Its first chapter is narrated by a giant trevally, a fish common to the waters around Orchid Island. It then tells the stories of three generations of a single family—father, son, and grandson—exploring the transformation of Tao society through their encounters with Han-Taiwanese modernity.

SYAMAN RAPONGAN is an acclaimed Tao writer who lives on Pongso no Tao or Orchid Island. He is the author of many books, including Eyes of the Ocean, published in English translation by Columbia University Press. Syaman Rapongan is a tireless advocate for Tao culture, an expert diver, and a master canoe carver.

KYLE SHERNUK is assistant professor of modern Chinese literature and culture at Georgetown University.