About Us

Slow Burn Books is an art publisher and bookshop dedicated to connecting Asian artists, writers and publishers with international audiences. 

Founded at the cusp of a global pandemic, Slow Burn Books launched at the NGV Melbourne Art Book Fair in 2020 and have since participated in abC Art Book Fair (China), Tokyo Art Book Fair (Japan), KL Art Book Fair (Malaysia) and PERMANENT Art Book Fair (Sydney). This small and passionate project is about connecting Melbourne’s creative communities with our regional neighbours, dedicated to making Asia-Pacific artist books and publications more accessible in Australia and vice versa. In 2025, they published their first photobook Inheritance (Di Sản). Their Melbourne reading room will open in summer 2026.

Slow Burn Books is co-founded by Nikki Lam and Scott Heinrich, who together share a passion for contemporary art, new media, design, architecture and everything in between. Nikki is a Hong Kong-born artist-curator and Scott is a designer, video director and creative producer. Together they report to Cibi, a ‘smol’ tabby cat who enjoys fabric hardcovers of art books and keeps our studio cat friendly at all times.