Simphiwe Mpho Zondani

Researcher, Writer, Translator & Academic

South Africa

Simphiwe Mpho Zondani is a journalist, translator, and multi-disciplinary writer born and based in Gqeberha. His work spans student journalism, academic research, creative nonfiction, and translation, with a focus on language, identity, and storytelling across platforms.

He has contributed to student newspapers, literary journals, and digital media campaigns — including a Feather Award–winning retail website, the first to feature bilingual chatbot copy in both English and isiXhosa. As a creative, Simphiwe’s essays and poems have appeared in publications such as The Kalahari Review and the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award anthology.

With experience in higher education, digital marketing, and the literary arts, Simphiwe is committed to accessible, multilingual storytelling that bridges the academic and the everyday.

Open to commissions, collaborations, and creative partnerships.

Portfolio

Published Poetry - Sol Plaatjie European Union Anthology (2023)

Creative Non-Fiction

Medium
07/12/2022
The Road to On The Road: A Journey, A Bibliography

There was Cormac McCarthy. There was also Camus. But most importantly, there was a man called Jean-Louis. Picture this: you're a scrawny little dash of a human being (read: short and black). Your...

Medium
01/27/2025
The Hereafter

Within our endless treasure trove of Indigenous knowledge and esoteric wisdom, AmaXhosa have an incredibly apt and equally confounding expression regarding death: ukufa kusembizeni. Translated...

Academic Publication

Journalsdg
TOWARDS A MORE CONTEXTUALISED CONCEPTION OF LITERACY: THE CASE OF SOUTH AFRICA

https://doi.org/10.55908/sdgs.v13i3.4286 literacy, suatainable development goals (SDG), global South, multiliteracy, UNESCO, South Africa Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the concept of literacy as a fundamental human right, with the aim of analysing its role in fostering equity, sustainability, and socio-economic progress while interrogating Eurocentric conceptualisations and integrating Global South perspectives.

Revista De Gestão Social E Ambiental
03/25/2025
Critically Apprasing the New York Public Library’s #Instanovels as Technauriture

This study investigates the potential of emergent digital literary forms, such as The New York Public Library’s InstaNovels, to challenge and reconfigure reading habits and foster a more inclusive reading culture. It aims to explore how digital technologies, through the lens of the technauriture paradigm, can problematise traditional definitions of reading, literacy, and reading culture, particularly within South Africa’s multicultural and multilingual context.

Food For Mzansi

Food For Mzansi
11/13/2019
Taking the lack out of lactose intolerance

A simple bowl of cereal, pies, ice-cream, mac and cheese and umphokoqo. What do all these diverse foods have in common? They all have dairy as one of their ingredients. Whether it's milk, butter, cheese, cream or even amasi, dairy plays an important role in each dish. It adds flavour and gives a...

Website Copywriting and Translation (Eng - isiXhosa

The Mall
The Mall | Indawo yokuthenga eQonce

Embindini wedolophu yaseQonce, eli thala levenkile likuphathela intlobo ngeentlobo zendawo zokuthenga ezi kwizinga eliphezulu, ezinayo nayiphi na into onokuyifuna - ingaba yigrosari, impahla yokunxiba, impahla yasendlini njalo, njalo. Sinalo noluhlu lwendawo zokutyela, iirestyu neecoffee shop ongazikhethela kuzo, into eyenza ukuba lemoli ibe yeyona ndawo unganqwenela ukuyityelela!

Student Work - Journalism and Media

Unpublished Concept
10/01/2017
Continua Magazine

Continua is an unpublished conceptual mockup of a high-end glossy lifestyle magazine in the vein of Gentelmen's Quarterly (GQ) and the more Afrocentric local counterpart like Blaque Quarterly. The name captures inherent politik of Blackness

Madibaz News

MadibazNews Student Newspaper
05/14/2018
Finish Strong

https://www.madibaznews.co.za/2018/05/14/finish-strong/