Koleka Putuma is a collector. She connects words, moments and memories, and weaves poetic strands into complete phrases to make sense of the world. As the first recipient of Standard Bank’s Young Artist award for Poetry, she has collected and now carries another responsibility: That of representing the poetry tradition in South Africa to a broader audience. It’s a responsibility she guards with a sense of selflessness that belies the comparatively few years she has been a professional practitioner of the craft. She is also a playwright, theatre director, and activist. Putuma’s first contact with words happened in the Eastern Cape where she was born, and grew as she moved around with her family, who eventually settled in Cape Town’s Northern Suburbs. She earned her stripes through dedicated practice on platforms unknown and renowned. Her debut collection of poetry, Collective Amnesia (2017), is an honest portrait of an artist finding their feet in the world. It remains in high demand to this day, testament that collections become archives which reward an intentional collector repeatedly. Stoic, laser-focused, impervious to imperial distractions, she enters a new era, storing another mantle onto the growing bounty: Recording artist.