In May 2015, Matthew Byrne started a poetry night at a hutong bar in Beijing’s Gulou district. Within five years it had grown into one of the largest English-language literary collectives in China — a multi-city, multi-format arts organisation spanning poetry readings, fiction nights, slam competitions, music-poetry collaborations, a critically acclaimed literary magazine, a bilingual comic book series, and international chapters from Gothenburg to Tucson.
This is the archive. The definitive English-language record of what Spittoon was, city by city, project by project, year by year.
By the numbers
Founded May 2015 Mado Bar, Beijing
Cities in China Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Xi’an, Shenzhen, Dali, Hangzhou
International Gothenburg (Sweden) · Tucson (USA) · Lisbon (Portugal) · Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) · Riga (Latvia)
Events 200+
Volunteers 60+
Project formats 14
Magazine 8 issues Dedicated to Chinese literature in English translation
Recognition Named among Asia’s best literary magazines by TimeOut Shanghai
Explore the archive
China: Beijing · Chengdu · Other Chinese Cities
International: Gothenburg · International
Magazine: Spittoon Literary Magazine · Browse the blog
The Spittoon Blog
This archive was preserved and reformatted by Matthew Byrne, founder of Spittoon, from original WeChat publications between 2026 and the present. Original bylines and credits are retained throughout. Contributors may request corrections or removal by contacting mtfbyrne@gmail.com.
