Vonani Bila • Ayanda Billie • Willem Anker • Angelo Fick • Rustum Kozain • Mukoma wa Ngugi • Carey Baraka • Genna Gardini • James Murua • Jerry Chiemeke • Ahmet Sait Akçay • Moshumee T Dewoo • Victor Dlamini
Welcome to the third issue of Volume 4 of The Johannesburg Review of Books.
In this edition of The JRB, Vonani Bila reviews KwaNobuhle Overcast, the new collection of poetry by Ayanda Billie, who won a South African Literary Award last year for his isiXhosa collection, Umhlaba Umanzi.
The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec talks to Willem Anker about his novel Red Dog, which was recently longlisted for the International Booker Prize.
To honour JM Coetzee’s eightieth birthday, which fell on 9 February 2020, an exhibition on his life and work is being held at the Amazwi South African Museum of Literature in Makhanda. In this issue, Angelo Fick reflects on the exhibition’s opening celebrations, and Rustum Kozain shares his piece ‘The man who would be eaten’, which he read at the event.
In a JRB exclusive, you can read an excerpt from the new African edition of Mukoma wa Ngugi’s novel We, the Scarred.
Carey Baraka considers Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor’s Dust and The Dragonfly Sea, and the Kenyan novelist’s mission to retell the ‘vile things’ of history.
In our poetry section this month, we present ‘Nipple Hair’, a new poem by Genna Gardini.
The JRB Editorial Advisory Panel member James Murua reports back from his trip to the Salon du Livre de Mayotte, the Mayotte Book Fair, which took place on the island nation’s capital, Mamoudzou, from 17–20 October 2019.
The JRB makes its Pidgin English debut this month, with ‘Ugborikoko’, a new short story by Jerry Chiemeke.
The JRB Photo Editor Victor Dlamini shares portraits of Shaun Johnson and Harry Garuba, who both passed away last week.
Finally, in a wide-ranging interview, Turkish author Ahmet Sait Akçay chats to Indo-Mauritian poet Moshumee T Dewoo about being denied Africanness, the hypocrisy of religion, and speaking freely through writing.
Here’s the complete breakdown of Vol. 4, Issue 3, which you will also find on our issue archive page:
Review
Interviews
- ‘I had to choose which “truth” would suit the story best’—Willem Anker chats to Jennifer Malec about his novel Red Dog
- ‘I do not manage my Africanness. I fight for it. I constantly have to defend it.’—Indo-Mauritian poet Moshumee T Dewoo talks to Ahmet Sait Akçay
JM Coetzee at 80
- JM Coetzee celebrates his 80th birthday in Makhanda—festivities offer a glimpse into the life of John Coetzee, the man, who engenders JM Coetzee, the writer
- ‘I am quite normal. I just wonder what JM Coetzee would taste like, slow-roasted, with tarragon.’—Read ‘The man who would be eaten’ by Rustum Kozain
Essay
- Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor’s weight of whispers—Carey Baraka considers Dust, The Dragonfly Sea and a novelist’s mission to retell the ‘vile things’ of history
Fiction
- New short fiction: ‘Ugborikoko’ by Jerry Chiemeke—The JRB’s Pidgin English debut
- The JRB exclusive: Read an excerpt from the new African edition of We, the Scarred by Mukoma wa Ngugi
Travel
Poetry
Photography
Obituaries
The JRB Daily
- Mohale Mashigo receives the inaugural Philida Literary Award
- ‘I wanted to release a story from a sealed box I had dragged around for decades’—Read an excerpt from Shaun Johnson’s award-winning novel The Native Commissioner
- 2020 Humanities and Social Sciences Awards shortlists announced—in fiction, non-fiction and creative and digital work
- 2020 International Booker Prize longlist announced—including South African author Willem Anker, for his novel Red Dog, translated by Michiel Heyns
