Koleka Putuma is a multi-award-winning theatre practitioner, writer and poet. Her poetry tackles themes such as homophobia, womanhood, race and the dynamics of relationships, religion and politics. Her poetry is sharp and thought provoking, unique in its form, language and structure. Every line, a powerful statement of what she stands for.

She is the founder and director of Manyano Media, a black owned company that produces and promotes original black queer women stories with the aim to empower and educate.

“Collective Amnesia”, her bestselling debut collection of poems, took the South African literature scene by storm, being named book of the year by the City Press and one of the books of the year by Sunday Times and Quartz Africa. The book is being studied in tertiary level in South African Universities and Gothenburg University in Sweden.

Whether you’re listening to her perform or reading her poems as texts, you’re sure to find Koleka Putuma a powerful presence – challenging, consoling, healing, provoking. Her first volume of poetry, Collective Amnesia, was published by Uhlanga Press in 2017; it has since spurred creative responses by numerous artists and activists. This was followed by the self-published collection Hullo, Bu-Bye, Koko, Come in (2021). As the latter title suggests through its allusion to music icon Brenda Fassie, Putuma’s sense of her craft and role as a poet is informed by the wide-ranging legacy of various South African wordsmiths, from stage divas to literary greats, who have come before her. Putuma observes:

 Mam’ Gcina Mhlope once said, “I tell stories to wake up stories in other people”. I            feel blessed and lucky to live a life that is committed to stories, dreaming them,            creating them, sharing them, and consuming them. I am honoured to be recognised          in this way and to form part of a long tradition of storytellers who have also woken     up stories in me. I use poetry and theatre to grapple with memory, archives, history,        documentation, performance, and practices/processes of making. I engage stories as      a way to fill in the gaps ... to question what is memorialised (through textbooks,             curricula, institutions etc) and how that informs my being in the world. 

In addition to performing her own work on stage, Putuma collaborates with other theatre makers. She wrote and directed Mbuzeni, an award-winning play that has struck a chord with teenage audiences both locally and internationally. Through her company, Manyano Media, and initiatives such as the Black Girl Live mentorship scheme, she works across various media (not only publishing and theatre but also film, television and advertising) to support black, queer, women storytellers.