Writer, poet and theatre-maker Koleka Putuma (b. 1993, Gqeberha, South Africa) is a well-known figure in South Africa’s contemporary literature and theatre scene. She is the founder and director of Manyano Media, a creative company amplifying Black queer artists' voices. A Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative finalist for theatre and a Forbes Africa Under 30 honoree, she has received the Imbewu Trust Scribe Playwriting Award, CASA Playwriting Award and the Distell Playwriting Award (2019) for No Easter Sunday for Queers. She has published three poetry collections and several plays. Putuma’s Collective Amnesia (2017), South Africa’s best-selling poetry book of the twenty-first century, has won multiple awards and been translated into eight languages. In 2024, Bonnier Books UK published her latest poetry collection for young readers, We Have Everything We Need to Start Again. In 2022, Putuma won the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Poetry. Her latest project, Can I Get a Witness?, is a poetry album.