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Justin Cartwright, 1945–2018, RIP
Acclaimed South African novelist Justin Cartwright has died, aged seventy-three. Cartwright passed away on Monday, 3 December, according to The…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 2, Issue 12 (December 2018, The Fiction Issue)
Ivan Vladislavić • Sisonke Msimang • Nuruddin Farah • Achmat Dangor • Odafe Atogun • Michiel Heyns • Koos Prinsloo…
[Fiction issue] [The JRB exclusive] Read an excerpt from Ivan Vladislavić’s forthcoming novel, The Distance
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from The Distance, the forthcoming novel by Ivan Vladislavić. Vladislavić is an award-winning novelist, short story…
[Sponsored] ‘Why can’t a girl from Soweto become a mermaid?’ Mohale Mashigo chats about her new book, Intruders
Mohale Mashigo chatted to The Reading List about her new book, Intruders. Read ‘The High Heel Killer’ – a short…
[Fiction issue] ‘Paying for Independence’, a new short story by Sisonke Msimang
The JRB is proud to present a new short story by Sisonke Msimang. Msimang is the author of Always Another Country:…
[Fiction issue] [The JRB exclusive] Read an excerpt from Nuruddin Farah’s new novel, North of Dawn
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from North of Dawn, the forthcoming novel by Nuruddin Farah. North of Dawn Nuruddin…
[Sponsored] Find out more about Chigozie Obioma’s new novel, An Orchestra of Minorities
An Orchestra of Minorities is the second novel by Chigozie Obioma, the author of The Fishermen, which was shortlisted for…
[Fiction issue] [The JRB exclusive] Read an excerpt from a work in progress by Achmat Dangor
The JRB presents an excerpt from a work in progress by Achmat Dangor. Dangor, a political activist and award-winning author, is…
[Fiction issue] ‘Man of God’, a new short story by Odafe Atogun
The JRB presents new short fiction by Odafe Atogun. Atogun is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Taduno’s Song…
[Sponsored] Read an excerpt and view photos from Michelle Obama’s intimate, powerful and inspiring memoir, Becoming
Penguin Random House has shared an excerpt and photographs from Michelle Obama’s deeply personal memoir Becoming, a work of deep reflection and…
[Fiction issue] ‘The Story of My Cousin’ by Koos Prinsloo, newly translated by Michiel Heyns
In The JRB Fiction Issue this year, we are delighted to feature two short stories by Koos Prinsloo, published for…
[Fiction issue] ‘The Story of My Father’ by Koos Prinsloo, newly translated by Michiel Heyns
In The JRB Fiction Issue this year, we are delighted to feature two short stories by Koos Prinsloo, published for…
[Sponsored] New book alert! We Are No Longer at Ease: The Struggle for #FeesMustFall
We Are No Longer at Ease is a collection of personal articles, essays, speeches and poetry mainly from voices of young…
[Fiction issue] ‘Chasing shadows’, a new short story by Palesa Manaleng
The JRB presents the short fiction debut of Palesa ‘Deejay’ Manaleng. ~~~ Chasing shadows It’s raining, the roads are slippery, the…
[Fiction issue] Johannesburg’s ‘is a beauty that is heard as much as it is felt’—Read an excerpt from Nthikeng Mohlele’s forthcoming novel, Illumination
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from Nthikeng Mohlele’s new novel, Illumination, and a short interview with the author. Mohlele,…
[Fiction issue] ‘How the War Ended for Jonathan’, a new short story by Byron Loker
The JRB presents new short fiction by Byron Loker. ~~~ How the war ended for Jonathan Jonathan and I became…
[Fiction issue] ‘The History of Emil Coetzee’, an excerpt from a work in progress by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu
The JRB presents an excerpt from a work in progress by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu. Ndlovu is the author of The…
[Fiction issue] Read an excerpt from Kagiso Lesego Molope’s new novel, Such a Lonely, Lovely Road
The JRB is pleased to present an excerpt from Kagiso Lesego Molope’s new novel, Such a Lonely, Lovely Road. Such…
[Fiction issue] [The JRB exclusive] Read an excerpt from Frank Owen’s new post-apocalyptic novel, North
The JRB presents an excerpt from North, the new novel from Frank Owen, the pen name of Diane Awerbuck and…
Read an excerpt from Stephen Symons’s new collection of poetry, Landscapes of Light and Loss
The JRB presents a poem from Stephen Symons’s new collection, Landscapes of Light and Loss, published by Dryad Press. ~~~…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits of Binyavanga Wainaina and Zakes Mda 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…
Ivorian author Armand Gauz wins 2018 Prix-Ivoire for his novel Camarade Papa
Ivorian Armand Gauz has won the 2018 Prix-Ivoire for his sublime historical fiction novel Camarade Papa. The action is set in…
[The JRB Daily] [World Aids Day] Two Koos Prinsloo short stories translated into English for the first time—among the first fictional texts about HIV/Aids in South Africa
In The JRB’s forthcoming Fiction Issue, we will feature two short stories by Koos Prinsloo, published for the first time…
[The JRB Daily] Panashe Chigumadzi wins 2018 Brittle Paper Award for Rights of Conquest, Rights of Desire, published in The JRB
The winners of the 2018 Brittle Paper Awards have been announced—including Panashe Chigumadzi, for her essay ‘History Through the Body or Rights…
[The JRB Daily] Three African authors up for International Dublin Literary Award – the world’s richest annual literary prize
Three African authors have made the longlist for the International Dublin Literary Award, the world’s most valuable annual literary prize for…
[The JRB Daily] 2018 South African Literary Awards winners announced—Mongane Wally Serote is South Africa’s new Poet Laureate
Header image taken by Victor Dlamini Mongane Wally Serote has been announced as South Africa’s new Poet Laureate at the…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 2, Issue 11 (November 2018)
Efemia Chela • Maryse Condé • Tsitsi Dangarembga • Shayera Dark • Victor Dlamini • Rebecca Duncan • Terry Kurgan…
We told her she was Nina Simone—Bongani Madondo reviews She Begat This: 20 Years of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Joan Morgan
As Bongani Madondo experienced tinges of nostalgia occasioned by the twentieth anniversary of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, HipHop Feminist…
[Sponsored] Are we reaching a new level of mental fragility? Rebecca Davis chats about her new book Self-Helpless: A Cynic’s Search for Sanity
Rebecca Davis chatted to The Reading List about her new book Self-Helpless: A Cynic’s Search for Sanity, a humorous take on…
[The JRB Exclusive] An excerpt from Tsitsi Dangarembga’s This Mournable Body, the third in the Tambudzai Trilogy that began with Nervous Conditions
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from This Mournable Body, the highly anticipated new novel from Tsitsi Dangarembga. Scroll to…
[Temporary Sojourner] Efemia Chela reads Trifonia Melibea Obono’s La Bastarda, the first novel by an Equatoguinean woman to be translated into English
In La Bastarda we find a revolutionary piece of literature, where a young girl isn’t saved by her long-lost father,…
[Sponsored] The Man Who Killed Apartheid: The Life of Dimitri Tsafendas – a complete about turn on one of the apartheid government’s greatest cover-ups
The Man Who Killed Apartheid: The Life of Dimitri Tsafendas by Harris Dousemetzis is out now from Jacana Media. In…
‘Even death dey fear me.’—Read an excerpt from Nnedi Okorafor’s short story ‘Showlogo’, from the new anthology Lagos Noir
The JRB presents an excerpt from a short story by Nnedi Okorafor, taken from the new anthology Lagos Noir. Lagos…
Transforming the real world into something strange—Wamuwi Mbao reviews Sally Rooney’s unusual and evanescent novel Normal People
Sally Rooney reshapes our understanding of the ordinary in a manner that invites us to imagine better ways of being,…
[Sponsored] ‘To be interesting is to be noticed and to be noticed is dangerous’ – Read an extract from Anna Burns’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel Milkman
Jonathan Ball Publishers has shared an extract from Anna Burns’s novel Milkman, which was recently awarded the 2018 Man Booker Prize. Milkman is…
‘We need to have lots of conversations about the Africa we want’—An interview with Lola Shoneyin, founder of the Aké Festival
Lola Shoneyin spoke to Shayera Dark about the fifth edition of the Aké Arts and Book Festival, which took place…
