Bitter Melon 苦瓜 is a small press founded in London in May 2019 by writer and poet Nina Mingya Powles. We publish limited-edition, risograph printed poetry pamphlets and poem broadsides by poets from the Asian diaspora.
Bitter Melon's publishing philosophy is threefold:
a note on how we operate
Bitter Melon was launched without any external funding. In the interests of transparency, I (Nina) was able to do this due the fact that I currently live on a shared income. I work 3 days per week in a non-writing-related job; I spend the other days on freelance writing and other unpaid creative work. I keep print runs very low, I look for cost-effective materials, and I print and bind the pamphlets at home myself. All money from sales (of both physical and PDF copies) goes towards the poets' 10% royalties, recouping costs for materials and printing, webstore running costs, and future Bitter Melon 苦瓜 projects.
Our logo was designed by artist and illustrator Oscar Price, who is also art director of Takeway Press.
Bitter Melon's publishing philosophy is threefold:
- To publish poetry by Asian diaspora writers, thereby changing the literary landscape to better reflect our own reality: multicultural, multilingual, diasporic, immigrant.
- To produce beautifully designed, limited-edition pamphlets crafted with love and care.
- To create a space for experimental, bold new writing that pays attention to the physicality of the poem, and in turn, the pages that hold the poems.
a note on how we operate
Bitter Melon was launched without any external funding. In the interests of transparency, I (Nina) was able to do this due the fact that I currently live on a shared income. I work 3 days per week in a non-writing-related job; I spend the other days on freelance writing and other unpaid creative work. I keep print runs very low, I look for cost-effective materials, and I print and bind the pamphlets at home myself. All money from sales (of both physical and PDF copies) goes towards the poets' 10% royalties, recouping costs for materials and printing, webstore running costs, and future Bitter Melon 苦瓜 projects.
Our logo was designed by artist and illustrator Oscar Price, who is also art director of Takeway Press.