Phelisa Sikwata
Born and raised in Cape Town (Mfuleni). Started writing poetry at age 14. In 2016 she joined CYPHER’s Ixhanti Saturday School Program which afforded her to be part of two poetry productions Ndikhululeni and Imbewu Yesini (2016). Her work has featured on Imbewu Yesini Anthology (2016); Next Generation Speaks Global Youth Anthology (2017); Vodacom June16 Campaign and SEEN Exhibition (2017). In 2017 she was part of the Cape Town BNV(Brave New Voices) team, the BNV festival took place in San Francisco- where she also featured on the Queeriosity Showcase. Through her work, she has appeared on Hectic Nine9 and BushRadio.With the 2017 Cape Town BNV team, she featured on the Dreaming Feminist Futures Symposium (2018) where she also subsequently chaired a Feminism, Media, Performance and Art panel discussion. In 2018, after 2 years being with CYPHER (Cape Youth Poetry Hub of Expression and Rhytym) amongst a group of innovative poets, she’s part of the NextGen Ambassadors Program.