Magnolia

Finalist for the 2021 RSL Ondaatje Prize

Finalist for the 2020 Forward Prize for Best First Collection

A Chicago Review of Books Best Book of the Month & a Lit Hub Most Anticipated Book of the Year

Magnolia, Nina Mingya Powles' exquisite debut poetry collection, pushes the borders of languages & poetic forms to examine memories, myths, & the experiences of a mixed-race girlhood. From Aotearoa to London, from Shanghai to New York City, these poems journey across shifting, luminescent cities in search of connection: through pop culture, through food, through vivid colors. Scenes from Mulan, Blade Runner, & In the Mood for Love braid together with silken tofu & freshly steamed baozi. At the heart of the collection is "Field notes on a downpour," a lyrical sequence that questions the limits of translation & our ability to understand one another. Alone, the speaker recognizes that “certain languages contain more kinds of rain than others, & I have eaten them all.”

Full of hunger & longing for a home that can embrace a person's complexities, Magnolia draws on every sense to arrive at profound, yet intimate insights, & introduces readers to a brilliant new voice in poetry.

Nina Mingya Powles is the author of several poetry zines & chapbooks, including Girls of the Drift & field notes on a downpour, & Tiny Moons, a food memoir. In 2019, she founded Bitter Melon, a poetry press that publishes handmade chapbooks by Asian writers. Her debut collection of essays, Small Bodies of Water, was published by Canongate in the summer of 2021. Magnolia was a finalist for the 2020 Forward Prize for Best First Collection, the 2021 RSL Ondaatje Prize, & the New Zealand Book Awards. Originally from Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, Nina currently lives in London.