Upile Chisala

Upile Chisala (born 1994) is a poet from Malawi. She prefers the term "storyteller." She is considered an Instapoet.^[1] She is often considered to belong to Malawi's third generation of writers.^[2] She has won numerous awards, including Forbes Africa's 30 Under 30.^[3]

Upile Chisala
Born	1994 (age 30–31) Malawi
Occupation	Poet
Education	University of Oxford New Mexico State University
Literary movement	instapoetry
Notable works	soft magic, nectar, a fire like you

Chisala was born in south-east Malawi in 1994,^[4] and grew up in Zomba.^[3] She began writing poetry at thirteen.^[4]

At seventeen, Chisala moved to the United States, where she majored in sociology with minors in Women's Studies and Law & Society at New Mexico State University.^[4][5] She began writing poetry at college to process experiences with racism.^[5] She graduated in 2015, but struggled finding a steady job. Chisala continued to write poetry, and self-published her first book of poems, Soft Magic, which includes poems she wrote during college.^[4][5] These poems reflected on her feeling like "an oddity."^[4]

Chisala then attended the University of Oxford, where she enrolled for a Master's of Science in African studies.^[3] She later moved to Johannesburg, South Africa.^[4][6][7]

In 2017, Chisala published her second collection, Nectar, exploring her experience with depression and complicated relationship with her parents.^[4][3] Following the book's success, Chisala signed a book deal with Andrews McMeel Publishing.^[3] Andrews McMeel republished her first two books.^[7] Her third collection is titled A Fire Like You.^[4]

Chisala founded a mentorship program for writers in Johannesburg, Khala Series.^[3]

Awards

• 2019: Forbes Africa 30 Under 30^[3]
• 2018: OkayAfrica 100 Women^[8]

Bibliography

• soft magic (2015)
• nectar (2017)
• a fire like you (2020)