Koleka Putuma

Koleka Putuma is a South African multi-award-winning theatre practitioner, writer and poet. She is also the founder and director of Manyano Media, a multidisciplinary creative company that empowers and produces stories by black queer women. Her bestselling debut poetry collection Collective Amnesia received the 2018 Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry, was named 2017 book of the year by the City Press and one of the best books of 2017 by The Sunday Times and Quartz Africa . Her work...See more

Koleka Putuma is a South African multi-award-winning theatre practitioner, writer and poet. She is also the founder and director of Manyano Media, a multidisciplinary creative company that empowers and produces stories by black queer women. Her bestselling debut poetry collection Collective Amnesia received the 2018 Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry, was named 2017 book of the year by the City Press and one of the best books of 2017 by The Sunday Times and Quartz Africa . Her work tackles themes such as sexuality, gender, race and politics. In 2022, Putuma was awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist Award - a first-time award for Poetry. She lives in Cape Town. See less