Upile Chisala

A fierce and lyrical collection of poetry celebrating the moments of triumph and beauty in our lives, as well as the moments of despair--recasting them as opportunities for growth. In this never-before-published collection, poet Upile Chisala grapples with themes of love, loss, and desire. Throughout this third book, she explores her identity as a black Malawian woman, offering intimate reflections on her life and experiences, imparting a stirring, universal message of empowerment and self-love.

A Fire Like You

sarah stevenson

i read this for school, and although i’ve never been a big fan of poetry, i found this to be a really beautiful and relatable piece of work.

A fierce and lyrical collection of poetry celebrating the moments of triumph and beauty in our lives, as well as the moments of despair—recasting them as opportunities for growth. In this never-before-published collection, poet Upile Chisala grapples with themes of love, loss, and desire. Throughout this third book, she explores her identity as a black Malawian woman, offering intimate reflections on her life and experiences, imparting a stirring, universal message of empowerment and self-love.

a fire like you

Montgomery Pierce

A Fire Like You was a bit of a wild card of a poetry collection. While there were several poems that I enjoyed (I Think The Furniture Knows and a number of the untitled poems were among my favorites) overall, the collection was okay. There isn't anything glaringly negative about this collection, nor is there anything in particular that stands out. I think for the right reader, it will hit the right spots, and I definitely think that it deserves a read.

Alexia

I think this is an important poetry collection that Upile wrote not only from her heart, but also from her gut, passing through pain and hard lessons, to finally be able to emerge thanks to resilience and hope.

Shannon O’Connor 

***I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***

WOW. I really loved this collection. Overall I havent been a fan of Chisala's work in the past but I like to give every book a chance especially poetry as every collection can be soooo different. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this collection. Some of the poems didnt resonate with me but they still left an impact. I am a fan of shorter poetry with meaning than long prose and that's what this collection delivered. My only complaint was the poems seemed a bit scattered at times. There would be a theme and then it would go a little off topic and then return and then again go off topic but maybe that was the point? overall I was a fan of this collection.

A Fire Like You

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