Keith Oliver Lewis is a poet from Smartie Town in the Western Cape. He was first published in Yesterdays and Imagining Realities: An Anthology of South African Poetry (2020). He aims to reimagine the forgotten histories of brown people and attempts to document their ancient and vibrant culture, now coined as coloured culture. After losing two of his cousins (2019 & 2021) and most recently his little brother (2023) to gun violence, Keith uses his poetry as a tool of remembrance to facilitate healing from loss and grief. In 2022 he was longlisted for the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award. Keith is a Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study 2023 writing fellow and the winner of the 2023 Short. Sharp.Stories Prize for his Short Story, Blue Boy Lagoon.His work has appeared in WILD: US Woordfees Kortverhaalbundel, published by Toyota US Woordfees. (2022), Ons Klyntji Zine (2022), The 2022 – Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Anthology Vol XI, published by Jacana Media and Fluid: The Freedom To Be published by Karavan Press.
