Nsah Mala

Born in Mbesa (also Mbessa), Nsah Mala did his primary education in CBC School Mbesa.

He wrote his first play in Form Two in Government Secondary School (GSS) Mbessa, and obtained his General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary Level in 2007. He did high school education in CCAST Bambili where he obtained his GCE Advanced Level in 2009, emerging as the national overall best candidate in Literature in English which earned him an award from the Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ).[6][7] In 2012 he graduated from École Normale Supérieure (ENS) de Yaounde and University of Yaoundé I.[8] From 2016 to 2018, with an Erasmus Mundus Scholarship, he studied for the Erasmus Mundus Masters Crossways in Cultural Narratives[9] and graduated with triple Masters from the University of Perpignan Via Domitia (France), University of St Andrews (UK), and Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (Spain). He enrolled in 2018 in a PhD programme in comparative literature at Aarhus University (Denmark).[10]

Nsah Mala wrote his first play in the second year (Form Two) of secondary education at GSS Mbessa.[11] He published his first poetry collection entitled Chaining Freedom in 2012 and has gone on to publish three other poetry collections in English and one in French. He has published three picture books in Cameroon and France while his poems and stories appear in magazines and anthologies.[12][13][5][14]

Constimocrazy: Malafricanising Democracy (2017), his fourth poetry collection, received reviews. Nelson Mlambo described it in Tuck Magazine as "a profound expression of Afro-talent and the personification of an Afropolitan voice."[15] Global Arts and Politics Alliance (GAPA) observed that Nsah Mala "reminds despots that they are a minority and they thrive on using the masses to gain popularity and benefit from power".[16]

In 2016, Nsah Mala's short story "Christmas Disappointment" was one of the ten winners of a competition organised by the Cameroonian Ministry of Arts and Culture.[17] In December 2016, his short story "Fanta from America" received a special mention in a competition organised by Bakwa Magazine in Cameroon.[18][19][20][5][21] His French poem "Servants de l'État" received a "mention spéciale du concours littéraire Malraux" (France) in December 2017.[5] He attended the Caine Prize Writers' Workshop in Gisenyi, Rwanda, in March 2018.[22]

In summer 2020, POW! Kids Books acquired world rights (excluding Africa) to Nsah Mala's North American debut picture book entitled What the Moon Cooks to be published in spring 2021.[23]

• (fr) Les Pleurs du mal, 2019, ISBN 978-1942876465
• (en) Constimocrazy: Malafricanising Democracy, 2017, ISBN 978-0998847665
• (en) If You Must Fall Bush, 2016, ISBN 978-9956763856
• (en) Bites of Insanity, 2015, ISBN 978-9956792672
• (en) Chaining Freedom, 2012, ISBN 978-0615692852

• (en) Andolo: the Talented Albino, 2020, ISBN 978-978-956-124-7
• (fr) Andolo : l'albinos talentueux, 2020, ISBN 978-978-956-139-1
• (fr) Le petit Gabriel commence à lire, 2020, ISBN 978-2368686621

• (co-edited with Mbizo Chirasha) Corpses of Unity – Cadavres de l'unité, 2020, ISBN 978-9966133991
• (co-edited with Tendai Rinos Mwanaka) Best New African Poets 2019 Anthology, 2020, ISBN 978-1779296108
• (co-edited with Tendai Rinos Mwanaka) Best New African Poets 2018 Anthology, 2018, ISBN 978-1779063601

• Departure,[24] Redemption Song and Other Stories, Caine Prize Anthology, 2018, ISBN 978-1623719708
• America at Midnight, Kalahari Review, 2017.
• Stubborn Miniskirt, PAROUSIA Magazine, 2017.

• The virality of letters: the Covid-19 literary archive keeps growing, Corona Times, 2020.
• Alleged corruption in academic appointments highlights Cameroon’s PhD glut, Times Higher Education, 2020.
• Comment expliquer la timide mobilisation de la jeunesse africaine pour le climat ? The Conversation, 2019.