Mbongeni Nomkonwana is a published writer and translator, a spoken word artist, actor, theatre director, aspiring producer and sometimes stand-up comedian. He is a trained actor, performer and puppeteer. He has vast experience in applied theatre, forum theatre and industrial theatre as both creator and performer. He has toured Southern Africa performing and directing applied and industrial theatre shows for schools and corporates. He is co-founder, director and resident poet of Lingua Franca Spoken Word Movement, one of Cape Town’s premier poetry collectives, with a unique fusion of spoken word poetry and authentically South African music. In April 2018 Lingua Franca was invited by Northwestern University and Poetry Foundation for a two weeks residency, to deliver lectures (on Lingua Franca’s pedagogies) and performances at the university and around the city of Chicago.