Koleka Putuma talks creativity and being named 2026 Featured Poet for Poetry Africa - EWN

Award-winning poet, writer and theatre practitioner Koleka Putuma recently added another accolade to her long list of achievements.

The young, but already established talent has been named as Featured Poet for Poetry Africa 2026 taking place in Durban in October, as the international poetry festival celebrates its 30th edition.

"Each year Poetry Africa honours a leading South African poet who stands as a beacon to uphold South Africa’s Constitutional Democracy and whose voice is a reminder about the values in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

Putuma's work tackles themes such as homophobia, womanhood, race and the dynamics of relationships, religion and politics.

When her debut collection of poems Collective Amnesia was published in 2017, it became a bestseller. Since then, the anthology is in its 12th print run and is prescribed for study at tertiary level in South African universities and around the world. 

In 2022, she was awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist Award - a first time award for Poetry.