Fear is a dance you will have to dance
until it feels like your feet belong to you
Author, playwright, slam poet, editor, mentor: At 32, South African Koleka Putuma’s practice isalready multifaceted, and she has become a cult figure in the activist poetry community. In a direct style that pulls no punches, she writes about homophobia and transphobia, gender and racism, while each line pulses with compassion and love.
Putuma entered the literary world with a bang in 2017, with her debut collection Collective Amnesia, which explores South Africa’s historic racism and its consequences, both institutionally and within the culture. Winner of several literary awards and translated into eight languages, the collection confronts established truths and rallies for justice and equality. Since the debut, Putuma has published the collection Hullo, Bu-Bye, Koko, Come In, written plays for both children and adults, and founded Manyano Media, a multidisciplinary company aiming to give a platform to Black and queer female artists.
Putuma’s most recent collection, We have everything we need to start again, illustrated by Adriana Bellet, is directed towards young adult readers, the ones that will run the world in the future. The poems openly address anger, fear and insecurity in the face of the great challenges of our time: Climate change, the hatred towards minorities, the powerlessness of people in a world ruled by Big Tech and top-down governments. At the same time, the poems make space for reflection, connection, and acceptance, emphasizing the need for community in dark times.
Camara Lundestad Joof is also a writer and a playwright, and the artistic director at The Norwegian Centre for New Playwriting. She is known for, among other things, the non-fiction publication I talk about it all the time and the play They must birth us or fuck us to love us, which both explore gender and racism in contemporary Norway. Now, Putuma and Joof meet on stage for a conversation about writing, poetry and activism.
The conversation will be in English. The event is part of the House of Literature’s Pride program, and is supported by NORAD.
