Slipstitching is a hand-sewing technique used to create a row of invisible stitches for enclosing the raw edges of quilts and garments. In this pamphlet of poetry, prose and collage by Nina Mingya Powles, stitching becomes a medium for poetry and patchwork becomes a method of layering the textures and colours of memories. Drawing on a patchwork quilt sewn by the poet's grandfather before she was born, Slipstitch is a poetic sequence exploring cloth, handwork and inheritance. 

Nina Mingya Powles is a poet and writer from Aotearoa New Zealand, based in the UK. Her debut poetry collection Magnolia 木蘭 (Tin House Press)was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and was a finalist in the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. In 2019 Nina won the inaugural Nan Shepherd Prize. Her resulting book of essays Small Bodies of Water was published in 2021 (Canongate). Nina has also published a short food memoir, Tiny Moons (The Emma Press, 2020) and several pamphlets and zines. 

A selection of early versions of poems and collages from Slipstitch were published in the summer 2023 issue of Poetry Review. Slipstitch was made possible by a week-long residency spent at Cample Line gallery in Scotland in 2023. 

Illustrated by Nina Mingya Powles with cover art by Antonia Glucksman.

ISBN978-1-913749-62-0 / 175 x 120mm / 32 pages / made with Woodstock, Arena and GF Smith Extract

Pamphlet