Mthunzikazi A. Mbungwana | Eastern Cape
Mthunzikazi A. Mbungwana is a poet, writer and storyteller from a small village of Cala, in the former Transkei, Eastern Cape. She uses her “Gift” as a contribution towards the preservation of indigenous languages, culture and the history of the black nation. Mthunzikazi’s debut isiXhosa poetry collection titled Umnikelo was self-published (2015).
She has contributed to a number of literary journals and magazines such as: LitNet (2011), Baobab (2014) Sunday World (2014), Prufrock, (2015), Poetry Potion (2015), Consciousness (2015), Isolezwe lesiXhosa (2015) and City Press (2016). She has also been published in anthologies: Home is Where The Mic Is (Botsotso 2015), To Breathe into Another Voice: An Anthology Of South African Jazz Poetry (STE Publishers 2017) and Atlanta Review (Special edition for South African women 2018).
Mthunzikazi has performed at: The South African Literary Awards (2011), The Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute International Women’s Day Celebration (2012), The State Theatre’s Night of the Poets at the South African State Theatre – headliner (2013), the 19th Poetry Africa Festival (2015), The Gauteng Schools Festival (2015), Split This Rock Poetry Festival in Washington DC (2016), The Orbit Jazz Club “Out There Sessions” (2016), Word and Sound (2017), South Africa’s The Social Network Toastmasters (2017) and Abantu Book Festival(2017). Mbungwana is also a part of a socially conscious poetry play, Human4Human (2014 – 2015).