Soft magic
SynopsisPlot
This book explores the self, joy, blackness, gender, matters of the heart, the experience of Diaspora, spirituality and most of all, how we survive. 'soft magic.' is a shared healing journey.
Story
About this book
Soft Magic is the debut collection of prose and poetry by Malawian writer Upile Chisala. The book moves through subjects close to identity and belonging, touching on selfhood, joy, blackness, gender, love, spirituality, and the experience of living in diaspora. Chisala writes from the position of someone shaped by Malawi and by distance from it, and the collection reflects both of those perspectives.
The pieces in the book are organized around the idea of survival and healing as shared experiences rather than private ones. Chisala addresses her themes in short, direct forms, a style that has found a wide readership among writers working in a similar mode of personal, compressed poetry. The title phrase suggests a kind of quiet, internal strength, one rooted in gentleness rather than force.
Chisala is part of a generation of African women poets who have built audiences largely through social media and self-publishing before reaching wider distribution. Her work is grounded in Malawi but speaks to questions of identity and displacement that cross borders. The collection treats difficult subjects with care, keeping its language close to the body and to everyday emotional life.
