Putuma’s poetry combines power with tenderness in pithy phrases. Her words are disarmingly direct and succinct and, like the various examples of light art that surrounds the neon representations of these enduring words, their meaning lands much further than what they immediately connote. The bracingly taut metaphors that have been extracted from her poetry punctuate and settle, then ebb and flow around the works that they provide navigation for, drawing parts of this diverse range of works together.

Putuma has taken the South African literary scene by storm with her debut collection of poems Collective Amnesia. Since her book’s publication in April 2017, it is in its sixth print run, has been prescribed for study in South African Universities and named 2017 book of the year by City Press and one of the best books of 2017 by The Sunday Times and Quartz Africa. She was recently recognised as a Rising Star at the 2017 South African Mbokodo Awards.