Now Place is an art space and independent publisher in San Francisco, championing emerging Asian diaspora artists and writers.
We showcase culturally rooted works that blend tradition, innovation, and personal expression, offering a window into shared identities in an interconnected world.
Language is central to our storytelling—bridging generations, preserving histories, and embracing linguistic fluidity.
Through our zines and books, we also seek to expand the definition of "Eastern" aesthetics, moving beyond conventional representations to explore expressions shaped by migration, hybridity, and personal narratives. By challenging static notions of "tradition", we create space for evolving, diverse voices that redefine what it means to be part of the Asian cultural landscape today.
Blue is the language I cannot translate
藍 色是我無法翻譯的語言
Blue Is the Language We Cannot Translate is an illustration book and poetic essay by Akaa Ling that maps the collapse and persistence of human connection through language.
Written across Chinese and English, the book is both a personal archive and a lyrical dissection—on being misread, mislabeled, and mistranslated.
Structured as a long-form letter to the part of the self that resists definition, it blends memory, philosophy, and poems: bruises mistaken for fruit, fashion as camouflage, speech as failure, and blue as the residue of closeness.
Hand-bound zine, 32 pages, 5 x 8 inch
April 2025
Something Spring 春的
Spring has always symbolized renewal and hope, yet its arrival is often imperceptible. Through poetry and imagery, the artist Akaa Ling explores the ambiguous nature of spring—its quiet emergence, its fleeting presence, and its symbolic weight in a world fraught with conflict. The zine weaves together familiar characters from childhood imagination—Pikachu, Moomin, Garfield, Psyduck, and Winnie the Pooh—as witnesses to the cyclical yet uncertain return of spring.
Comes in two size: 2x5'' and 2.5x7’
Mar 2025
She exists among a thansands pain
她存在于万千痛苦中
She exists amidst thousands of pain is a illustration/poem zine, part of the serie Three things about love 爱三则.
This zine is a self, intimate reflection of resilience, emotions, and the quiet strength within moments of struggles. Akaa Ling wrote and illustrated 7 poems to explore a fragmented story of love, marriage, and being women.
Hand-bound zine, 28 pages, 5 x 8 inch, Risograph printed, Jan 2025
“Hey, please listen to me" Earring zine
“喂，请听我说”
This Earring Zine was a part of the series <Three things about love> 爱三则. It is designed and produced by Akaa Ling as an exploration of the fluidity of the book format.
It features a love poem, whispering love alongside your ear, with pages intentionally designed in length to reflect the meaning of the content.
Hand-bound zine, 42 pages, 12 pages, 4.5 x 2 inch,
Jan 2025
A love letter 一封情书
This "Love letter" consists of a square poem book and a illustration book by Akaa. As the last one of the series 爱三则, Akaa explores the fluidity of language—not only in translation and the way words shift between English and Chinese, but also in the materiality of the book itself. Through layered paper, blurred text, and shifting forms, the work dissolves the boundaries between meaning and medium.
Much like love, language is never fixed. It transcends direct translation, existing in the spaces between words, between what is seen and what is felt. This zine reflects that transient nature, allowing words to merge, fade, and transform—echoing how love moves beyond language, beyond definition, and into something fluid and ineffable.
Hand-bound zine, 42 pages, 5 x 8 inch,
Feb 2025
Qingming Tavern 清明酒馆
The zine Qingming Tavern '清明酒馆' is a collective of stories, writings and drinks inspired by our culture, where participants contribute their memories, reflections, and imaginings. As part of a ritual inspired by Qingming (清明节) cultural traditions, these writings are burned at the end—releasing them as smoke and flame, a gesture of letting go and honoring the transient nature of memory.
We document the night of memory in this zine.
Hand-bound zine, 16 pages, 8 x 2.5 inch,
April 2025
No Duck Can Escape Nanjing 没有一只鸭鸭能走出南京
<No Duck Can Escape Nanjing> is a darkly humorous, poem zine blending absurdity, folklore, and longing. In a city where ducks are destiny, one duck tries to escape the fate carved into the rhythm of street markets and simmering broth. Through surreal poetry and delicate illustration, the zine explores identity, inheritance, and the quiet violence of tradition—where even dreams are shaved into slivers and deep-fried.
Set against the backdrop of Nanjing’s markets, rivers, and kitchens, this illustrated tale is at once humorous and heartbreaking—a elegy to all who have tried to flee what they were born into.
—
Hand-bound
May 2025
Chinese counting gesture
手势
<Chinese counting gesture> is a zine that begins with a simple, familiar act—hand gestures for numbers. Often taken for granted, these gestures reveal deep cultural differences once we pause to compare. Rooted in Chinese counting signs, the zine becomes a playful yet meaningful way to reconnect with Asian heritage, spark cross-cultural dialogue, and rediscover the unspoken language we carry in our hands.
—
Hand-bound
Nov 2024
$10
‘in my gut a razor blade 大腸裡的刀片
‘in my gut a razor blade’ is a @studiosansui zine comprising of three poems reflecting on guilt and grieving past friendships. Zines are riso printed and hand bound with a pamphlet stitch. Featured photographs were taken over the course of 2024.
Hand-bound zine, risograph printed, pamphlet stitched
Mar 2025
Your little cats always love you 你的小猫永远爱你
Cat’s Daily Life is about the persistence of love —through fur, mischief, and small daily chaos. It captures the push and pull between independence and intimacy, told through the story of a cat who never stops trying to climb into your lap, no matter how many times she’s pushed away.
With a mix of dry humor and lyricism, the zine explores what it means to be grounded by another creature’s presence. In a world where stars die and people remain unknowable, one thing remains certain: your cat will always love you.
—
Hand-bound zine, 16 pages, 8 x 2.5 inch, comes in 3 colors
Feb 2025
‘twenty something’ 二十好几
''twenty something' 二十好几 is a collection of poetry and photography from @studiosansui , exploring twenty-sixth year documenting feelings of joy, confusion, pain, and cultural questioning throughout the year - a progression of growing older and letting go.
Jul 2024
Hand-bound zine, risograph printed
'i love you' 我爱你
"I love you" is a phrase both overused and underexplored. ‘I love you’ is a @studiosansui zine.
This zine unpacks its weight, its absence, and its echoes across relationships, time, and memory. Through text and image, Studio Sansui traces love’s transformations—its declarations, hesitations, and distortions—revealing how meaning shifts with context and intent. Words can be tender, hollow, liberating, or suffocating. Here, love is examined not as a fixed state but as a living, evolving force shaped by language, perception, and the spaces between us.
Hand-bound zine, risograph printed
Star-gazing syndrome
观星症
Star-Gazing Syndrome is a bilingual collection of poems and illustrations by artist Yaoting Wang. This evocative work delves into the intimate and universal act of daily life, exploring themes of longing, introspection, and connection to each other. Through a harmonious blend of poetic language and visual artistry, Star-Gazing Syndrome invites readers to reflect on the vastness of the universe and their place within it.
Risograph printed
Memory of a Tiny Forest Vol. 1 小森林
The Memories of a Tiny Forest Vol.1 is a 3 color riso zine composed of fragments of a little girl’s journey through the forest.The artworks are inspired by both the artist's Chinese heritage and personal memories that recall many moving-ons and farewells.
Hand-bound zine, risograph printed
2024
Orchid 兰花
Orchid is an animation-based zine inspired by an orchid that bloomed after two years of dormancy. Rooted in Chinese symbolism—where orchids represent solitude and resilience—the zine blends fairytale imagery, bright colors, and gentle creatures to evoke a world both tender and melancholic. Influenced by classical Chinese aesthetics, it reflects on quiet strength and the beauty of reawakening.
Hand-bound zine, risograph printed
2024
The Rider 地铁狗
The Rider is a two-color risograph zine about a chance encounter between a mischievous dog and an old lady on a freezing New York train.
Blending American urban humor with East Asian narrative nuances, it evokes a sense of being adrift in a foreign land and captures fleeting moments of warmth and solitude.
Hand-bound zine, risograph printed
2024
'AIYA' 哎呀
Aiyaa, aiyah, aiyoh, aiya, or 哎呀 is a word used to express disappointment, surprise, annoyance, pain, frustration, sarcasm, etc. In this zine you'll find five illustrations of aiya moments as an artist by Faith Cao.
Hand-bound zine, risograph printed, 4.25" x 5.5"
A Personal Bible: Han Yong’s Painted Scripture
一个的圣经
Han Yong boldly paints over the Bible, not as an act of defacement but as a deeply personal reinterpretation—his own visual scripture.
Artist: Han Yong
Design: Yida
Hand-bounded, published by Yan shu
Moonnight party
Xiangyata’s art book is a quiet meditation on memory and perception, told through delicate pencil-drawn narratives. Each scene—whether an intimate gathering under power lines or a luminous encounter with fire—unfolds with cinematic softness, blurring the line between nostalgia and dream. Through intricate detail and subtle storytelling, the book invites viewers into a world both distant and deeply personal, where the passage of time feels fluid and meaning lingers in the spaces between.
Artist: Xiangyata, Published by Yan shu
Zhen 鴆
A photography book
鹤 (Zhen) is a photographic exploration of the mythical and surreal, where nature’s timeless essence meets the shifting modern landscape.
Directed by Lin Shu, the book moves through haunting and atmospheric locations—Huangshan, Wudangshan, Zhangjiajie—capturing an ethereal balance of stillness and motion.
With dreamlike compositions, it weaves a quiet yet powerful narrative that blurs reality and legend, evoking a sense of otherworldly presence within the everyday.
Artist: Lin Shu, Published by Yan shu
Heart doesn't have calendar
心脏没有日历
is a bilingual visual poem zine by Akaa Ling, tracing the inner migrations of a queer Chinese diasporic heart—where memory, desire, and language unfold without chronology.
Written in both Chinese and English, the zine moves like a soft pulse through emotional weather: longing without timestamp, grief without border, tenderness without name. Starting with a fish leaping onto land, Landfish is both a myth and a metaphor for diasporic becoming—for growing lungs in a place where breath was never promised.
Structured as a constellation of visual poetry, typographic play, and handwritten fragments, this zine reflects the diasporic experience of being too much and not enough—of translating oneself across silence, across mother tongues and chosen words, across soft rebellions and inherited shame.
It is a personal archive and a poetic offering—for those who were told they were too tender, too fragmented, too far from home.
Hand-bound zine, 40 pages, 5 x 8 inch
April 2025
I AM CAT series
我是貓
I AM CAT Series is a bilingual collection of zines created in collaboration between Now Place and artist Akaa, inspired by solitary walks through neighborhoods in cities like Hong Kong. This series explores themes of identity, tradition, and duality through the lens of feline perspectives through storytelling and visual art, offering a whimsical yet poignant look at the intersection of the modern and traditional.
AT SHOP IN ASIA 铺头猫在香港
_gif.gif)
The story invites you into the enchanting world of three cats residing in a traditional Chinese medicine shop in Hong Kong, that is about to close.
One of the central themes of this zine is the exploration of identity in the intersection between the modern world and tradition. While the Chinese medicine store is going away, three cats navigate their roles within the shop and interact with the diverse array of customers.
Artist: Akaa, Published by Now place
Cat poem things 小猫一些诗集
Daily cat literature 小猫二三事
"I AM CAT IN BETWEEN WORLDS" is a collection of stories created by Akaa that bring the world of 小貓二三事 (Little Cat Literature) to life. Through the eyes of our curious and endearing feline protagonists, the stories delve into the intricacies of dual identity—navigating the space between being human and cat, being Asian and residing in the Western world.
Self published, 5x8 inches, 28 pages
