Yamkela TYWAKADI (fiction, nonfiction, South Africa) is a novelist, publisher, performer, and the founder of Blank Page Edu, a company that develops mobile apps and board games. Often working in South Africa’s native languages, she has published 15 books; her first, Andingombala Ndingumntu: IsiXhosa novel, is used in isiXhosa classes throughout the country. Ms. Tywakadi is on Mail & Guardian’s list of 200 Young South African Leaders for 2019. She participates courtesy of the U.S. Consulate General in Johannesburg. 

"On the Map" is a series of interviews with writers while they are in Iowa City participating in the International Writing Program's fall residency. The series is produced by the IWP at the University of Iowa, and is made possible by a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.