Sunhee Oh, CEO of London’s independent publishing house – Poets & Punks
A beautiful variation of Anju & Banju
Poets & Punks. Sunhee Oh, the CEO / the creative director of fashion brand ByEdit felt affection and compassion towards two very distant kinds of people. Eventually, they become the name of her publishing house. Poets & Punks represents her curation of what she likes. As she puts people who appreciate arts and see the world differently to the forefront, she aims to show the beauty in everyday life of eating, drinking, and living. Poets & Punks’ recent publication, <Anju & Banju> tells how Korean anju(dished served with alcohol) and natural wine makes an unexpectedly lovely combination. It is also interesting to see that the book is the collaboration work of talented people from Seoul, London, New York, and Paris.
Poets & Punks Publishing house CEO, Sunhee Oh
What made you start the publishing house ‘Poets & Punks’?
I have always acknowledged the existence of emptiness while running a fashion brand ByEdit. I am not a designer, nor was it my intention to launch a fashion brand - it all just happened. One day, it came to me that it is time for me to do what I want to do, one by one. So I started bundling books with ByEdit editions. Busan Edition was the first one. We wrote a Busan guidebook and published it. Following publications include <Edit Pasta Cookbook>, <Edit Salad Cookbook> and the fairy tale <Pebble or Daisy>. All of them were received very well. At that time, the books were nothing more than supplements of the bag. So, the idea of running a publishing house was not considered until the last year. I planned on moving to England and thought how nice it would be to start an independent publishing house there, the forever home of ‘independent’. I just want to say all this was possible because it was London.
Previous books published by CEO Sunhee Oh
What does the name ‘Poets & Punks’ imply?
Poets and Punks. It is as simple as that. They represent the point where I find people charming, and at the same time, they imply that I respect both extreme tastes. ‘Imagine like poets, act like punks.’ or, ‘Think like punks and speak like poets’. These are engraved in my heart. I came across the inspiring line that ‘Punks do what they want however small they are.’ in an interview. Punk musicians are the one make powerful yet poetic music with the simplest instruments. I cannot lead that kind of life myself, but I do admire and respect that.