Koleka Putuma
Koleka Putuma (born in Port Elizabeth, 22 March 1993) is a South African queer poet and theatre-maker. She was nominated one of Okay Africa's most influential women in 2019.
Also recorded as Coco Putuma
Koleka Putuma
Per A.J. Andersson · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1993 · Gqeberha.
- Nationality
- South Africa
- Occupation
- poet · theatre practitioner · writer · playwright
- Education
- University of Cape Town
- Known for
- Collective amnesia : poems
- Honours
- OkayAfrica 100 Women · Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry · PEN SA Student Writing Prize · Standard Bank Young Artist Award · Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Koleka Putuma (born in Port Elizabeth, 22 March 1993) is a South African queer poet and theatre-maker. She was nominated one of Okay Africa's most influential women in 2019.
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Note VALÉORINE
Koleka Putuma (born 1993) is a playwright, poet and theatre practitioner, among other activities, of South African nationality. The playwright was born in Gqeberha.
Koleka Putuma was educated at University of Cape Town. The playwright worked in Cape Town.
Among the works is Collective amnesia : poems. Languages used include English. Honours include Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards, Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry and OkayAfrica 100 Women, among others.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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wikidata · Q54975390 · wikipedia · Koleka Putuma
In this article
Biography
Biography
Koleka Putuma studied at University of Cape Town. The recorded working language is English. Places of work recorded in the authority are Cape Town. Works named in the authority record are Collective amnesia: poems. Distinctions recorded are OkayAfrica 100 Women, Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry, PEN SA Student Writing Prize and Standard Bank Young Artist Award.
Putuma was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in 1993. She studied for a BA degree in Theatre and Performance at the University of Cape Town. In 2016, she was awarded the PEN student writing prize for her poem "Water". This poem is used in schools as a reminder that access to water is political, historical and racialized. Recurrent themes in Putuma's work are love, queerness, decolonial struggle and the legacy of apartheid, as well as the intersection of patriarchy with those ideas and identities. She works as a theatre producer for Design Indaba and lives in Cape Town.
Collective Amnesia
Collective Amnesia
Putuma first came to global attention with the publication of her poetry collection Collective Amnesia, published by the South African poetry press uHlanga in 2017. It was released with complementary photography by Cape Town-based photographer Andy Mkosi. Within three months of its release, the book sold 2000 copies, had 17 launches across South Africa and was on the syllabus at two universities. After eight months, it had sold more than 5000 copies and Putuma had given performances of it across three continents. Its Spanish translation by Lawrence Schimel and Arrate Hidalgo was published in 2019, and a Danish translation was published in 2020. As of 2018, Putuma is the best-selling poet in South African history. Collective Amnesia is notable for its repeated use of the word womxn, which is intended to include nonwhite and transgender women.
Plays
Plays
• SCOOP: kitchen play for carers and babes (2013) - the first South African play designed for babies up to 12 months old, with Magnet Theatre • Ekhaya - written for 2-7 year olds • UHM (2014) • Woza Sarafina (2016) • Mbuzeni’ (2018) • No Easter Sunday for Queers (2019) - a drama about religion and queerness based on one of Putuma's poems.
Poetry
Poetry
• Imbewu Yesini (2016, editor) • Collective Amnesia (2017) • Hullo, Bu-Bye, Koko, Come In (2021) • We Have Everything We Need To Start Again (2024)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1993
Koleka Putuma was born on 22 March 1993.
Reception
Reviewing Collective Amnesia, Bongani Madondo of the Johannesburg Review of Books hailed Putuma as a "genius". Collective Amnesia has quickly become a key text to understanding postcolonial South Africa, particularly with its focus on black women's bodies and queer identities. Haith argues that the collection is as much a "cultural object" of contemporary South Africa, as it is a text. Burger's critique places Putuma's use of the water as a literary device within the context of other South African poets, such as Ronelda S Kamfer. The poem "Water" has become a key text for literary explorations of hydrocolonialism. Pieterse emphasises Putuma's writing about black womanhood, alongside the poet Sindiswa Busuku-Mathese. While it was Putuma's poetry that brought her to a global stage, her work for stage has also been received to critical acclaim, dealing with contemporary political issues. Her play No Easter Sunday for Queers brought attention to the violent discrimination that lesbians in South Africa can face. Mbuzeni deals with the orphan crisis and is narrated by five young women, while they play jokes about death. Boehmer considers Putuma within a broader canon of postcolonial poetry and short-story writing, which can feel for the reader like a "call to action".
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q54975390: Koleka Putuma
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Koleka Putuma”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly index
- OpenAlex author record A5066460461 for Koleka Putuma.
General reference · OpenAlex
authority file
Awards
• National Poetry Slam Championship (2014) • PEN South Africa Student Writing Prize (2016) • Mbokodo Rising Light Award (2017) • SCrIBE Scriptwriting Competition (2018) • Forbes Africa 30 under 30 Honouree(2018) • Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry (2018) • Distell National Playwright Competition (2019)
References ==== External links
References ==== External links
• Koleka Putuma's website • Koleka Putuma's Instagram • TedX Koleka Putuma • Official Video - Water by Koleka Putuma
"Poesi, motstånd och försvar", P1080562
Per A.J. Andersson
Koleka Putuma, Nathan Trantraal, P1080560
Per A.J. Andersson
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Munro, Brenna. Pleasure in Queer African Studies: Screenshots of the Present. College Literature. 45. 4. 659–666. 2018. 1542-4286.
- 2.OKAYAFRICA - 100 WOMEN. OKAYAFRICA's 100 WOMEN.
- 3.Putuma, Koleka. Collective amnesia. 2017-04-13. 978-0-620-73508-7.
- 4.Koleka Putuma Badilisha Poetry – Pan-African Poets. badilishapoetry.com.
- 5.Mulgrew, Nick. Water by Koleka Putuma PEN South Africa.
- 6.Koleka Putuma: Water - Classroom - Art & Education. www.artandeducation.net.
- 7.PARSE. parsejournal.com.
- 8.Koleka Putuma Talks Poetry Post-Patriarchy and Black Joy. consent.yahoo.com. 10 February 2017.
- 9.Design Indaba appoints Koleka Putuma as theatre producer. www.bizcommunity.com.
- 10.Poetry On The Road May 22 – 27 2019 Koleka Putuma. www.poetry-on-the-road.com.
- 11.Koleka Putuma, Collective Amnesia. uHlanga.
- 12.Koleka Putuma's poems of celebration, grief and rage. The Mail & Guardian. May 2023.
- 13.Mkhabela, Sabelo. Koleka Putuma Is the Groundbreaking New Voice of South African Poetry. Medium. 2017-07-22.
- 14.Gantsho, Vangile. Collective Amnesia, Koleka Putuma: reviews. New Coin Poetry. 53. 2. 77–80. 2017-12-01. 0028-4459.
- 15.Murua, James. Koleka Putuma poetry collection "Collective Amnesia" now in Spanish. Writing Africa. 2018-11-19.
- 16.African Poetry Book Fuund. Koleka Putuma.
- 17.d'Abdon, Raphael. 'You Say "Performance Poet", I Hear "Dance Nigger, Dance"': Problematizing the Notion of Performance Poetry in South Africa. English Studies in Africa. 61. 2. 49–62. 2018-07-03. 0013-8398.
- 18.Mathunjwa, Zimkhitha. Koleka Putuma's Collective Amnesia Insists On Visibility And Healing. consent.yahoo.com. 12 June 2017.
- 19.Portrait of the poet as a young genius: Bongani Madondo reviews Koleka Putuma's Collective Amnesia. The Johannesburg Review of Books. 2017-05-01.
- 20.Haith, Chelsea. 'I question why I understand what she has said' – Language and decolonial justice in Koleka Putuma's debut poetry collection 'Collective Amnesia'. MoveableType. 10. 45. 2018-08-02. 1755-4527.
- 21.Burger, Bibi. 'Our respect for water is what you have termed fear': The Ocean in the Poetry of Ronelda S. Kamfer and Koleka Putuma. Journal of Southern African Studies. 46. 23–38. 2019-12-18. 0305-7070.
- 22.Hofmeyr, Isabel. Provisional Notes on Hydrocolonialism. English Language Notes. 57. 1. 11–20. 2019-04-01. 0013-8282.
- 23.Pieterse, Annel. Knowledge and Unlearning in the Poetry of Koleka Putuma and Sindiswa Busuku-Mathese. Scrutiny2. 23. 1. 35–46. 2018-01-02. 1812-5441.
- 24.Koleka Putuma's "No Easter Sunday for Queers". The Theatre Times. 2019-10-06.
- 25.Hofer, Alison. Contemporary plays by African women. South African Theatre Journal. 32. 2. 186–190. 2019-11-20. 1013-7548.
- 26.Boehmer, Elleke. Postcolonial Poetics: 21st-Century Critical Readings. Springer International Publishing. 173–192. 2018. 978-3-319-90341-5.
- 27.ABOUT. Koleka Putuma. 2012-01-23.
- 28.Koleka Putuma's Christian/ queer collision – The Mail & Guardian.
- 29.Putuma, Koleka. Imbewu Yesini. 2016.
- 30.Chengeta, Gorata. Hullo, Bu-Bye, Koko, Come In (review).
- 31.We Have Everything We Need To Start Again by Koleka Putuma. School Reading List. 2024-07-03.
- 32.Mulgrew, Nick. Announcing the PEN South Africa Student Writing Prize Winner PEN South Africa.
- 33.Koleka Putuma's Collective Amnesia Wins the Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry, Nick Makoha & Dami Ajayi Shortlisted. Brittle Paper. 2019-06-02.
- 34.BWW News Desk. Koleka Putuma Announced As Winner Of 2018 SCrIBE Scriptwriting Competition. BroadwayWorld.com.
- 35.Africa, Forbes. Under 30 Creatives. Forbes Africa. 2018-06-04.
- 36.Prizes. African Poetry Book Fund.
- 37.OPEN CALL: 2020 Distell National Playwright Competition. Between 10 and 5. 2019-08-13.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly index
Secondary witnessauthority file
VIAF cluster 187149617083103751249 for Koleka Putuma, aggregating national library name authorities.OCLC
Secondary witnessreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q54975390: Koleka PutumaWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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