Small Bodies of Water: Nina Mingya Powles in Conversation
Channel: British Library
Date: 2021-10-15

The winner of the Nan Shepherd Prize for underrepresented voices in nature writing, discusses her breakthrough book with Kerri ní Dochartaigh

In her lyrical prose, Nina Mingya Powles weaves together personal memories, dreams and nature writing to reflect a girlhood spent growing up between cultures. Through this searching non-fiction debut that blends memoir and natural observations from London to New Zealand, Shanghai to Malaysia, Powles asks what it means to belong. Uniting this collection of essays on home and identity are the bodies of water that she has encountered through various cultures and times in her life. 

Join Nina in conversation and celebrate the publication of her novel which announces an exciting new voice in nature writing.  

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 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.

Kerri ní Dochartaigh is the author of Thin Places which was highly commended by the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing 2021. She has written for The Guardian, the Irish Times, the BBC, Winter Papers, and others. She lives in an old railway cottage in the heart of Ireland with her family. 

This is part of our autumn season on environment, The Natural Word, which celebrates the underrepresented voices harnessing the power of imagination to change the world.

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First Broadcast on Thu 16 Sep 2021