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[The JRB Daily] ‘Remarkably diverse’ 2018 Man Booker Prize shortlist announced
The six authors shortlisted for the £50,000 Man Booker Prize have been announced—with 27-year-old debut novelist Daisy Johnson becoming the youngest…
[The JRB Daily] Fred Khumalo to publish a book of short stories in isiZulu — uManzekhofi Nezakhe
Kwasukela Books, a new publisher dedicated to isiZulu fiction, has announced Fred Khumalo’s isiZulu debut, uManzekhofi Nezakhe. The book will…
[The JRB Daily] Siphiwo Malaha delivers his inaugural postdoctoral address at the premiere of his new documentary on Can Themba
Author Siphiwo Malaha gave gave his inaugural postdoctoral address last night at the Market Theatre, Johannesburg, as part of a…
[The JRB Daily] Shortlist announced for the $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature—Africa’s richest literary award
The shortlist for the 2018 Nigeria Prize for Literature has been announced. The prize was founded in 2004, and is awarded…
[The JRB Daily] UJ Prize shortlists announced—novels dominate this year
The shortlists for the 2017 University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in English have been announced. Unlike most…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 2, Issue 9 (September 2018)
Welcome to the ninth issue of Volume 2 of The Johannesburg Review of Books. This month, we were privileged to…
‘You have to write like a suicide bomber, you have to detonate’—Arundhati Roy discusses The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
Arundhati Roy visited South Africa on a book tour recently, and sat down with The JRB to discuss her highly…
[Sponsored] Find out more about Sally Rooney’s Man Booker Prize-longlisted novel, Normal People
‘Excellent’ – Sunday Times ‘Totally intoxicating’ – Vice ‘Extraordinary and moving’ – Observer ‘Sally Rooney is a treasure’ – Elif…
One of the most important works of non-fiction in South Africa’s democratic era—Richard Poplak reviews The Lost Boys of Bird Island
The story told in The Lost Boys of Bird Island warps South Africa’s history beyond the nightmares of colonialism and apartheid,…
Unsettling old assumptions about xenophobia—Read an excerpt from I Want to Go Home Forever: Stories of Becoming and Belonging in South Africa’s Great Metropolis
The JRB presents ‘On Patrol in the Dark City’, an excerpt from I Want to Go Home Forever: Stories of Becoming and…
[Sponsored] Cover reveal—Zakes Mda’s new novel The Zulus of New York
Umuzi has revealed the cover for Zakes Mda’s new novel The Zulus of New York! The Zulus of New York is a work…
‘Utterly mysterious, and utterly worthy of our attention’—Wamuwi Mbao reviews Asymmetry, the debut novel by Lisa Halliday
Lisa Halliday’s debut Asymmetry is a genuinely surprising novel, which invites us to question how men and women are rendered in…
A kaleidoscopic novel of radiant beauty—Bongani Kona reviews the new English translation of Ondjaki’s Transparent City
In Transparent City, Ondjaki writes Angola not as an insignificant place in the margins of history but as if it…
[Sponsored] Lives of Great Men by Chike Frankie Edozien—an incredibly powerful portrayal of what it means to be a gay Nigerian man
Lives of Great Men, the award-winning memoir from Chike Frankie Edozien, is out now from Jacana Media. The book won…
‘I want the reader to be an active participant, to work things out for themselves’—Craig Higginson chats about his new novel, The White Room
Craig Higginson’s sixth novel, The White Room, was published by Picador Africa in August. He chatted to The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec about…
‘Authors in the West don’t worry about whether Africa will understand them’—Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi discusses Kintu at Wits
Ugandan author Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi visited Wits University in August, for a discussion around her debut novel, Kintu. Kintu Jennifer…
[Sponsored] Read an excerpt from Tomi Adeyemi’s epic West African fantasy novel Children of Blood and Bone
Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone is a West African Fantasy about a girl who must fight against the monarchy to…
A glorious mixture of low and high culture—Loftus Marais reviews Robin Robertson’s Man Booker Prize-longlisted book, The Long Take
The Long Take by Robin Robertson is longlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize. Here is poet Loftus Marais’s short…
New short fiction: ‘Looking for Simphiwe’ by Sifiso Mzobe
The JRB is proud to present a new short story by award-winning author Sifiso Mzobe. Mzobe was born and bred…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits of Arundhati Roy by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. Don’t miss the ten-year retrospective…
Of Fathers and Grandfathers—Read an excerpt from House of Stone, the debut novel by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma
The JRB is proud to present an excerpt from House of Stone, the debut novel by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma. House of…
New poetry by Kelwyn Sole: ‘The empty space we call Mandela’
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents previously unpublished poetry by Kelwyn Sole. The empty space we call Mandela On…
[City Editor] Tanzania and my Vagabond Neurosis—Niq Mhlongo contemplates his irresistible urge to travel
About five months ago a very close friend of mine invited me to his wedding. His big day was Saturday,…
Read an excerpt from Congolese–French author Wilfried N’sondé’s novel Un océan, deux mers, trois continents, winner of the Prix Ahmadou-Kourouma
Un océan, deux mers, trois continents is the realisation of an idea I had forming in my mind for about…
[The JRB Daily] ‘When they tried to ban the book, this book exploded’—Jacques Pauw’s The President’s Keepers wins Nielsen Booksellers Choice Award
Image: Jacques Pauw (right) with Stephen Long of Nielsen Book group The President’s Keepers by investigative journalist Jacques Pauw has…
[The JRB Daily] ‘You can’t hide who you are when writing fiction’—Arundhati Roy considers the legacy of VS Naipaul
Indian writer Arundhati Roy, in South Africa on a book tour, sat down with The JRB to discuss her books…
[The JRB Daily] Remembering VS Naipaul in South Africa
VS Naipaul, who died aged eighty-five on Saturday, spent some months in South Africa in 2009, researching his final book….
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 2, Issue 8 (August 2018)
Welcome to the eighth issue of Volume 2 of The Johannesburg Review of Books. We have a bumper edition for…
Novuyo Rosa Tshuma and Panashe Chigumadzi in conversation—Meditations on the traumas and triumphs of Zimbabwe’s histories
‘History is created in the mouth …’ Novuyo Rosa Tshuma and The JRB Contributing Editor Panashe Chigumadzi both have new…
[Sponsored] An exciting new African voice—An excerpt from Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu’s debut novel The Theory of Flight
Read an excerpt from The Theory of Flight, the debut novel by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, courtesy of Penguin Random House SA….
Nelson Mandela’s ‘new’ collection of prison dispatches signs his name across our hearts: Bongani Madondo reviews The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Torn for so long between anxiety and awe at the idolisation of Nelson Mandela, The JRB Contributing Editor Bongani Madondo…
‘Historical fiction is a way of fighting rootlessness’—Ayesha Harruna Attah discusses her new novel The Hundred Wells of Salaga
Ayesha Harruna Attah’s new novel, The Hundred Wells of Salaga, has just been published by Cassava Republic Press. She chatted…
[Sponsored] Hold—an intimate, powerful coming-of-age debut novel set in Ghana and London by Michael Donkor
Moving between Ghana and London, Michael Donkor’s debut novel Hold is an intimate, powerful coming-of-age novel. It’s a story of…
How to eat a small child–Yemisi Aribisala considers the question of representation in books for children of colour and the legacy of Little Black Sambo
Yemisi Aribisala recalls her first encounter with Little Black Sambo, and asks: Who is responsible if the image of the…
Writing our Blackness into existence—Ntombizikhona Valela reviews Born to Kwaito by Esinako Ndabeni and Sihle Mthembu
Born to Kwaito: Reflections on the Kwaito Generation cranks up the volume of the unsung and barely documented soundtrack of ‘freedom’,…
[Sponsored] Listen to an excerpt from The People in the Trees, the debut novel from Hanya Yanagihara, author of A Little Life
The People in the Trees is a powerful work of visionary literary fiction from Hanya Yanagihara, the bestselling author of the…
