Pan Macmillan announced on 11 March 2025 that Vuyokazi Ngemntu, participant in the Kommadagga Workshop of 2024, will be this year’s recipient of the prestigious Chris van Wyk Bursary.
Vuyokazi Ngemntu, a writer-performer from Cape Town currently pursuing a master’s degree in Creative Writing at Wits University, has consistently demonstrated her versatility and unique voice. Her talent for writing short stories has already been recognized by a wider audience. Her short story ‘‘Binnegoed’’, was named overall winner in a regional competition of the Afrikaans magazine Ibua Journal and another, ‘‘The serpent’s handmaiden’’, was shortlisted for the Share Africa Climate Change Award for fiction.
Ngemntu has also been recognized for her exceptional talent and dedication to exploring critical themes within her work. She does this by combining poetry, singing, physical theatre, stories, and rituals to navigate the trauma inherited from previous generations, to confront inequality and facilitate healing.
My praxis as a writer and performer is deeply invested in the exploration of epigenetic trauma and, ultimately, the reclamation of the desecrated archive of African intangible heritages.
Vuyokazi Ngemntu
Ngemntu draws inspiration from a range of authors, including Octavia Butler, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Nnedi Okorafor, K. Sello Duiker, as well as Malidoma Patrice Some and Credo Mutwa, for their work on African spirituality and healing justice.
The Chris van Wyk Bursary will enable Ngemntu to continue her studies at Wits University under the guidance of the Creative Writing programme, where she plans to develop an experimental short story collection exploring the intersection of indigenous knowledge systems with science fiction and fantasy.
Congratulations Vuyokazi Ngemntu! May your work continue to heal and touch people’s hearts.
Click here to read more about Vuyokazi Ngemntu and the 2025 Chris van Wyk Bursary.
