The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 8, Issue 3 (October 2024)

Shayera Dark • Wamuwi Mbao • Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu • Makhosazana Xaba • Tariro Ndoro • Nozizwe Cynthia Jele • Percy Zvomuya • Jennifer Malec • Musawenkosi Cabe • Athambile Masola • Anna Stroud • Salimah Valiani • Victor Dlamini • Tymon Smith • Zanele Muholi • Jacob Dlamini • Lauretta Ngcobo • Alex La Guma • Laura Fish • Kelwyn Sole •

Welcome to the third issue of Volume 8 of The Johannesburg Review of Books!

In this issue, Shayera Dark reviews Hisham Matar’s novel My Friends, which hones in on the push and pull of friendships and their guiding light amid the hardening uncertainty and chaos of a life in exile. Wamuwi Mbao probes Butter by Asako Yuzuki, a novel keenly attuned to the many ways the private sphere runs on the disproportionate work of women while deliberately rendering that work unnoticeable. The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec appraises Sally Rooney’s new novel Intermezzo, in which sexual tension and spiky wit give way to a deeper sense of tenderness and a lighter brand of charm. And Percy Zvomuya draws on Martin Plaut and Sarah Vaughan valuable new book Understanding Ethiopia’s Tigray War in a reading of the modern history of conflict in the Horn of Africa.

We have a sweep of interviews and conversations this edition. Malec speaks to author Nozizwe Cynthia Jele about her new isiZulu-focused publisher, Happiness Books, and the challenging process of translating and producing books in indigenous languages. In the seventh in our series of long-form interviews focusing on contemporary collections by Black women and non-binary poets, The JRB Patron Makhosazana Xaba is in conversation with Tariro Ndoro. Elsewhere in the issue, Xaba chats to Musawenkosi Cabe about Izimpabanga Zomhlaba—her new isiZulu translation of Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth. And Salimah Valiani chats to Anna Stroud about maps, trees and all the ingredients for love one can find in Johannesburg—and shares a brand new poem all the way from Canada.

In our survey of new and forthcoming fiction, we present for your enjoyment an excerpt from a new edition of Lauretta Ngcobo’s seminal novel Cross of Gold, and a first look at Sesizophila Ngale Ndlela, a new isiZulu translation of Jele’s novel The Ones with Purpose, the first release from her Happiness Books. We also present an excerpt from Lying Perfectly Still by Laura Fish, who passed away shortly before her novel’s publication.

In non-fiction, we present an excerpt from Dying for Freedom: Political Martyrdom in South Africa, the new book by acclaimed historian Jacob Dlamini, as well as an excerpt from a new edition of Alex La Guma’s classic memoir A Soviet Journey, including the Foreword by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.

In our poetry section, we present a selection of work by Athambile Masola, originally published in her award-winning 2021 collection Ilifa, and now newly translated from isiXhosa to English. We’re also pleased to offer Kelwin Sole’s introduction to Maxwell the Gorilla and the Archbishop of Soshanguve, an epic poem by the late Angifi Proctor Dladla ‘unlike any other’.

From our Photo Editor Victor Dlamini this month, a literary portrait of the late Tshidiso Moletsane. You can also view a selection of images and an excerpt from Zanele Muholi’s new book Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness, Vol. II.

And finally, while you’re reading, fire up your internet streaming service and have a listen to ‘Spring has sprung / go full Howard Beale’, a JRB playlist compiled by Tymon Smith.

Here’s the complete breakdown of Vol. 8, Issue 3, which you will also find on our issue archive page:

Reviews

Interviews

Poetry