- Sep 7, 2022
- 3 min read
With every page you turn, Koleka Putuma mentions (backspace) discloses the challenges and intricacies of ordinary life for black women and female artists in her new offering Hullo, Bu-Bye, Koko, Come In. The book title, Hullo, Bu-Bye, Koko, Come In, is inspired by the phrase made famous by South African singer, songwriter, dancer, and activist Brenda Fassie in her hit song Istraight Lendaba. As the arrangement of the words in the phrase may look confusing (backspace) incoherent, it is an expression that encompasses the social milieu of the township and shared experiences of our arrivals and departures, greetings, and goodbyes in the township.
Hullo, Bu-bye, Koko, Come In by Koleka Putuma
Koleka Putuma is a South African award-winning poet, playwright, and theatre practitioner. The success of her debut collection of poems Collective Amnesia, took the South African literary scene by storm. Her best-selling debut collection has sold over 6000 copies and translated into several languages such as Danish, German, and Spanish. In her sophomore collection, Hullo, Bu-Bye, Koko, Come In, she borrows themes from Collective Amnesia that probe into the challenges within womanhood, homophobia, generational trauma and the queer community.
In her poetry, Putuma is bold and different (backspace) original and seldom follows the predictable (backspace) conventional rules of poetry and prose. Her way of writing is unapologetic not only in language but in structure and form- sometimes consisting of just a single line. The poems in Hullo, Bu-Bye, Koko, Come In are cleverly intertwined as though they were her thoughts written straight down from her journal.
With phrasesjumbledupintolongsentences and words far apart, Putuma leaves it to the reader to create pauses and rhyme schemes of their own.
Hullo, Bu-Bye, Koko, Come In is divided into four chapters, each exploring various themes about exploitation, hyper-visibility, erasure of black women from records, South Africa's socio-political history, grief and spirituality. In this book, Putuma poignantly explores the themes and invites the reader to stop to think profoundly and earnestly about the lived experiences of the people who may not look like them. She draws inspiration from the words of women like Brenda Fassie, Mariam Makeba, Winnie Mandela, and others.
In between the poems, Putuma inserts excerpts from these women and creates a dialogue that highlights how they've been celebrated but also forgotten (backspace) erased, uncited and exploited by the media and society. Putuma sheds light on the broader business transactions in the media and entertainment industry. She talks about the ongoing difficulties that artists endure and critiques how little has changed over the years in how African women are treated and perceived by the media and society. Together the archives and poems bring awareness to the never-ending impermanence and complexities of the entertainment industry.
Throughout the book, the theme of erasure frequently reoccurs. Putuma illustrates how the work of black women who are writers, scholars and activists has been watered-down (backspace) whitewashed and edited by (backspace) credited to white women.
the draft begins
with a feminist
backspace
the draft begins with a feminist white woman
backspacebackspace
the draft begins with a citation written by a
black woman
credited to a feminist white woman
backspace
the draft begins.
(An extract from a poem in the book Hullo, Bu-Bye, Koko, Come In)
In the poem above, she demonstrates one of the various ways black women disappear (backspace) erased and how their names get lost in the archives of institutional history. Putuma also speaks to the erasure of musicians and performers who have died bankrupt despite being well renowned in their careers.
Koleka Putuma [Image from prohelvetia swiss arts council]
In the final chapter, 'Come In', Putuma shares personal anecdotes through her poetry about her upbringing and the women in her lineage that have greatly influenced who she is. She talks about the various roles black women take on and how they can transform themselves almost intuitively. Becoming mothers, grandmothers, breadwinners, healers, and caregivers, all while trying to navigate their journeys. Pain, loss, and irreversible grief are the themes found in this chapter. "They console your mother by telling her you died for a purpose," she writes about a mother who lost her daughter at the hands of hateful men. Apart from Putuma's daring and unapologetic style of writing, Hullo, Bu-Bye, Koko, Come In serves as a reminder that, past all the troubles, grief, and complexities we live through, our experiences as women are no different from one another.
