Chet'la (pronounced: SHAY-la) is the author of the debut essay collection Turn (W)here: A Geography of Home, forthcoming from The Dial Press on May 5, 2026. She is also the author of three poetry collections: Blue Opening (Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, Lambda Literary Bisexual Poetry Award finalist, and longlisted for the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Collection); Field Study (winner of the James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets); and Mistress (New Issues Poetry Prize Winner and NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work-Poetry finalist).

She is an assistant professor of English at the George Washington University and teaches in Randolph College’s Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing Program.

Photo credit: Shannon Woodloe.