Small Bodies of Water
'A remarkable book' Robert Macfarlane

'A distinctive new voice: attentive and tender' Amy Liptrot

'Elegant, understated, urgent and nourishing' Jessica J. Lee

Home is many people and places and languages, some separated by oceans.

Nina Mingya Powles first learned to swim in Borneo – where her mother was born and her grandfather studied freshwater fish. There, the local swimming pool became her first body of water. Through her life there have been others that have meant different things, but have still been, in their own way, home: from the wild coastline of New Zealand to a pond in northwest London.

This lyrical collection of interconnected essays explores the bodies of water that separate and connect us, as well as how the nature around us, wherever we are in the world, can make us feel at home. In powerful prose, Small Bodies of Water weaves together nature writing with personal memories. It reflects on a girlhood spent growing up between two cultures, and explores what it means to belong.
1138702182
Small Bodies of Water
'A remarkable book' Robert Macfarlane

'A distinctive new voice: attentive and tender' Amy Liptrot

'Elegant, understated, urgent and nourishing' Jessica J. Lee

Home is many people and places and languages, some separated by oceans.

Nina Mingya Powles first learned to swim in Borneo – where her mother was born and her grandfather studied freshwater fish. There, the local swimming pool became her first body of water. Through her life there have been others that have meant different things, but have still been, in their own way, home: from the wild coastline of New Zealand to a pond in northwest London.

This lyrical collection of interconnected essays explores the bodies of water that separate and connect us, as well as how the nature around us, wherever we are in the world, can make us feel at home. In powerful prose, Small Bodies of Water weaves together nature writing with personal memories. It reflects on a girlhood spent growing up between two cultures, and explores what it means to belong.
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Small Bodies of Water

Small Bodies of Water

by Nina Mingya Powles
Small Bodies of Water

Small Bodies of Water

by Nina Mingya Powles

Hardcover(Main)

$26.00 
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Overview

'A remarkable book' Robert Macfarlane

'A distinctive new voice: attentive and tender' Amy Liptrot

'Elegant, understated, urgent and nourishing' Jessica J. Lee

Home is many people and places and languages, some separated by oceans.

Nina Mingya Powles first learned to swim in Borneo – where her mother was born and her grandfather studied freshwater fish. There, the local swimming pool became her first body of water. Through her life there have been others that have meant different things, but have still been, in their own way, home: from the wild coastline of New Zealand to a pond in northwest London.

This lyrical collection of interconnected essays explores the bodies of water that separate and connect us, as well as how the nature around us, wherever we are in the world, can make us feel at home. In powerful prose, Small Bodies of Water weaves together nature writing with personal memories. It reflects on a girlhood spent growing up between two cultures, and explores what it means to belong.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781838852153
Publisher: Canongate Books
Publication date: 02/15/2022
Edition description: Main
Pages: 272
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Nina Mingya Powles is a writer, editor and publisher from Aotearoa New Zealand. She is the author of three poetry collections, including Magnolia, which was shortlisted for both the Ondaatje Prize and the Forward Prize; and Tiny Moons: A Year of Eating in Shanghai. In 2019 she won the Nan Shepherd Prize for Small Bodies of Water, and in 2018 she won the Women Poets' Prize. She is the founding editor of Bitter Melon. Nina was born in Aotearoa, partly grew up in China, and now lives in London.

@ninamingya | ninapowles.com

Table of Contents

A Girl Swimming Is a Body of Water 1

The Safe Zone 13

Where the Kowhai Blooms 37

The Language of Waves 55

Crushed Little Stars 65

Falling City 81

The Plum Rains 91

We Are All Dreaming of Swimming Pools 105

Unpeel 113

Faraway Love 125

Tender Gardens 133

Ache: A Swimming Diary 161

Tofu Heart 177

$$$ 187

Museum of White Clouds 209

In the Archive of Waterfalls 215

Notes 253

Acknowledgements 263

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