Jade River

A spellbinding, dreamy and irresistibly romantic magical-realist story set in Shanghai, where a shimmering school swimming pool hides a gateway to a flooded mirror world

About the author

Nina Mingya Powles is a poet and writer from Aotearoa New Zealand based in London. Her debut poetry collection, Magnolia 木蘭, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and was a finalist in the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. She is the author of several books of creative nonfiction including Tiny Moons, a food memoir, and Small Bodies of Water, winner of the inaugural Nan Shepherd Prize. Gathering: On Sewing and the Fabric of Memory, is forthcoming in 2026. Jade River is her fiction debut, and her first novel for young adults.

@ninamingya | www.ninapowles.com