The JRB latest
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 10, Issue 1 (October 2026)
Wamuwi Mbao • Fifi Bat-hef • Nondwe Mpuma • Makhosazana Xaba • Percy Zvomuya • Anthony Chennells • Percy Mabandu…
‘Many murky fixations bob to the surface’—Wamuwi Mbao reviews Dominique Botha’s The Crying Bride & Other Hallucinations
Wamuwi Mbao reviews The Crying Bride & Other Hallucinations by Dominique Botha, a keenly alive collection from the new Painted…
[Sponsored] Who was the ‘Black Victorian’—? Find out in Percy Zvomuya’s definitive new biography of Robert Mugabe
Who was Robert Mugabe, really? Robert Mugabe: The Black Victorian, Percy Zvomuya’s definitive new biography of the man who shaped—and…
‘I remember him as an enthusiastic student, with a terrible stutter’—Percy Zvomuya conducts a final interview with Anthony Chennells (1937—2026, RIP) on Marechera, Mungoshi, Lessing and more
Percy Zvomuya visits his former teacher, the critic Anthony Chennells, at Arrupe Jesuit University in Harare, to talk about the…
‘The haunted house becomes the colony in miniature’—Fifi Bat-hef reviews Nadia Davids’s Cape Fever
Fifi Bat-hef reviews Cape Fever by Nadia Davids, a slow-burning gothic tale of a young Cape Malay woman in service…
[Sponsored] Exploring the moral and emotional terrain of fatherhood, memory, and inheritance: Mphuthumi Ntabeni’s new novel, Multitudes
Multitudes, the new novel from Mphuthumi Ntabeni, is out now from Kwela Books! MultitudesMphuthumi NtabeniKwela Books, 2026 When Phila, a…
‘A revisitation-cum-commemoration’—Makhosazana Xaba on ten years of Percy Mabandu’s Yakhal’inkomo: Portrait of a Jazz Classic
Makhosazana Xaba revisits Percy Mabandu’s Yakhal’inkomo: Portrait of a Jazz Classic ten years after its publication, and the many artists…
New Poetry by Kelwyn Sole: ‘The Honourable Skin’
The JRB presents previously unpublished poetry by Kelwyn Sole. ~~~ The Honourable Skin Hello, dumela, it’s been a while, how’s…
[Sponsored] The Zuma Effect: in which Mcebisi Ndletyana and Mashupye Maserumule dissect Jacob Zuma’s presidency
The Zuma Effect, the definitive account of the Zuma presidency by leading political scientists Mcebisi Ndletyana and Mashupye Maserumule, is…
Notes on Translating Marechera—Musaemura Zimunya expands on the songs and allusions in The House of Hunger for a new Brazilian edition
When the publisher of a new Brazilian edition of Dambudzo Marechera’s The House of Hunger needed help with the book’s…
‘All poems live and die by having a rhythm’—Nondwe Mpuma in conversation with Makhosazana Xaba
This is the eleventh in a series of long-form interviews by Patron Makhosazana Xaba to be hosted on The JRB,…
[Sponsored] New book alert! Graham Coetzer takes you inside South Africa’s illicit mining underworld in Zama Zama
Zama Zama: Inside the Illicit Mining Underworld, the new book by Graham Coetzer, bestselling author of Hunting with the Hawks,…
Read ‘Elbow’, a short story by Khadija Magardie, from Let’s Tell This Story Properly: An Anthology of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize
The JRB presents ‘Elbow’, a short story by Khadija Magardie, first published in Let’s Tell This Story Properly: An Anthology…
‘Grief is fertile soil’—Read an excerpt from Malika Lueen Ndlovu’s UJ Prize-winning Griefseed
The JRB presents an excerpt from Griefseed, Malika Lueen Ndlovu’s collection of poems, essays and reflections on grief, which won…
‘Race and history are essential twins’—Read an excerpt from Corinne A. Kratz’s award-winning book, Rhetorics of Value
The JRB presents an excerpt from Rhetorics of Value: Exhibition Design and Communication in Museums and Beyond by Corinne A….
‘Mankunku was in no way copying Coltrane. He was inheriting the tradition’—Percy Mabandu talks to Makhosazana Xaba about Yakhal’inkomo: Portrait of a Jazz Classic, ten years later
Makhosazana Xaba talks to Percy Mabandu about the tenth anniversary of his book Yakhal’inkomo: Portrait of a Jazz Classic, Winston…
Poetry by Simon van Schalkwyk, from Zero Summer
The JRB presents an excerpt from Zero Summer, the new poetry collection by Academic Editor Simon van Schalkwyk. Zero SummerSimon…
[Photo Editor] A portrait of Aminata Sow Fall by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. See this ten-year retrospective of his portraits. View this…
There’s no stopping Joziferatu—A new playlist for the times by Tymon Smith
Let it be known that it was in 2026—the year of the rat-bite, the year of actual plague—that the still…
Poetry by Lesego Rampolokeng, from When the Fires Go Down
The JRB presents an excerpt from When the Fires Go Down by Lesego Rampolokeng. When the Fires Go DownLesego RampolokengBlack…
New Poetry by Diane Awerbuck, from her collection Fishwife
The JRB presents an excerpt from Fishwife, the new poetry collection by Diane Awerbuck. FishwifeDiane AwerbuckModjaji Books, 2026Order here ~~~…
Poetry by Aryan Kaganof, from We Who Are Not Dead Yet
The JRB presents an excerpt from We Who Are Not Dead Yet by Aryan Kaganof. We Who Are Not Dead…
Poetry (and sound) by Thando Fuze, from Fluent in the Language of Burial
The JRB presents an excerpt from Fluent in the Language of Burial, the debut poetry collection by Thando Fuze. Fluent…
‘Its redness diluted the way a moment dilutes into an age’—Read an excerpt from Faraaz Mahomed’s new novel, Mother/Land
The JRB presents an excerpt from Mother/Land, the new novel by Faraaz Mahomed. Mother/LandFaraaz MahomedCatalyst Press, 2026 ~~~ I took…
‘Nobody blinks twice at a woman digging a hole’—Read an excerpt from An Archaeology of Holes, the new collection by stacy hardy
The JRB presents an excerpt from An Archaeology of Holes, the new short story collection by stacy hardy. An Archaeology…
‘When new parenthood is stormy, it is only mothers who get wet’—Read an excerpt from Michelle Kekana’s debut novel, The Fragile Mental Health of Strong Women
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Fragile Mental Health of Strong Women, the debut novel by Michelle Kekana. The…
‘He surprised them when he didn’t immediately take the Tambo–Huddleston–Gwangwa position [on Graceland]’—Read an excerpt from Zakes Mda’s new biography of Chris Hani
The JRB presents an excerpt from Chris Hani: A Life of Courage and Compassion, the new authorised biography by Zakes…
‘As soon as he saw me, I was the one for him’—Read an excerpt from Martha Evans’s new biography of Lilian Ngoyi
The JRB presents an excerpt from Lilian Ngoyi: A Life, the new biography by Martha Evans. Lilian Ngoyi: A LifeMartha…
‘There are many other things for which he deserves to be remembered’—Read an excerpt from Brian Willan and Brown Maaba’s new biography, Isaiah Bud-M’belle: The Life of Isaiah Budlwana M’belle, 1870–1947
The JRB presents an excerpt from Isaiah Bud-M’belle: The Life of Isaiah Budlwana M’belle, 1870–1947, the new biography by Brian…
‘No one appears to have truly known him’—Read an excerpt from Original Apartheid Hustler: The fiction and fabrications of Dugmore Boetie by Benjamin N. Lawrance and Vusumuzi R. Kumalo
The JRB presents an excerpt from Original Apartheid Hustler: The fiction and fabrications of Dugmore Boetie, the new biography by…
[The JRB Daily] ‘Korea’s Nobel Prize in Literature’—Damon Galgut becomes the first South African to win the Pak Kyongni Prize
Damon Galgut has been awarded the 2026 Pak Kyongni Prize, South Korea’s most prestigious international literary award. The Toji Cultural…
The JRB Fiction Issue! (Vol. 9, Issue 3, December 2025)
Wamuwi Mbao • Makhosazana Xaba • Simon van Schalkwyk • Khadija Tracey Heeger • Sean Jacobs • Barbara Boswell •…
‘A reluctant, complicated love story spanning the globe and a myriad natural disasters’—Barbara Boswell reviews Ice Shock by Elleke Boehmer
Barbara Boswell reviews Elleke Boehmer’s Ice Shock, a novel saturated with extremes of love and increasingly calamitous climate events. Ice…
[Sponsored] Listen to an excerpt from Cursed Daughters—the glittering follow-up to the award-winning bestseller My Sister, the Serial Killer
Cursed Daughters—the highly anticipated new novel from Oyinkan Braithwaite—is out now from Jonathan Ball Publishers! Braithwaite is a Nigerian–British novelist…
‘Always in search of uncompromising honesty in a compromised and compromising world’—Kevin Goddard reviews Kelwyn Sole’s latest collection of poetry, What is Owed?
Kevin Goddard reviews What is Owed? by Kelwyn Sole—a poet’s summing up of a life dedicated both to verse and…
Can we engage with power without being corrupted by it? Sean Jacobs reviews Mahmood Mamdani’s new book, Slow Poison: Idi Amin, Yoweri Museveni, and the Making of the Ugandan State
Sean Jacobs reviews Slow Poison by Mahmood Mamdani, a rich and textured account of Ugandan and postcolonial African politics, and…
