I am Lwando Manyonta, born on the 10th of January 1993 here in Grahamstown and I was also raised here. I am currently doing Grade 12 at Nathaniel Nyaluza, one of the oldest schools in the Eastern Cape. It is where I got my inspiration for creative writing and where I was one of the founder members of Upstart.
I am a very lively person who loves to play around and joke with people, because that’s what I do best. I love an audience because I do drama at school, not as part of my studies but as a hobby. But drama is one thing that inspired me to write poetry and stories.
My work is about performance. I write performance poetry. My poems always have that humour and energy you would find on stage. I always try to write poetry whereby people won’t get bored at the end of the poem. I want them to giggle a bit while reading my material.
What I deeply dislike are people who are naïve, who think they know everything, who don’t want other people’s views to be heard. And what I truly like is performing. Drama is me, and I live it!