Finuala Dowling • Hassana Moosa • Shayera Dark • Wamuwi Mbao • Sean Jacobs • Seitlhamo Thabo Motsapi • Sihle Ntuli • Megan Ross • Abigail George • Kris Van der Bijl • Victor Dlamini • Jennifer Malec • William Kentridge • Nigel C Gibson • Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani • Yanjanani L Banda • Onke Mazibuko • Ellah Wakatama • Joel Cabrita • Christa Kuljian • Sanya Osha • Lesego Linda Plank • Jessie Cooper
Welcome to the first issue of Volume 9 of The Johannesburg Review of Books!
In this issue, Finuala Dowling reviews Ingrid de Kok’s seventh collection of poetry, Unleaving, which speaks of private grief, personal loss, ambiguity and hope. Wamuwi Mbao shares his thoughts on God’s Waiting Room by Casey Golomski, finding it to be a profoundly beautiful exploration of what ageing means for those who lived in compact with racial separation. Shayera Dark reviews Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s new novel Dream Count, a novel that rifles through various romances, unspoken desires and revelatory events. Hassana Moosa reads Isabella Hammad’s new novel Enter Ghost, a powerful portrait of community resilience, recovery and hope in the face of overwhelming uncertainty. Sean Jacobs reviews Available Light, a new publication that continues Daniel Magaziner’s significant work foregrounding the lives of Black artists and intellectuals under apartheid. The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec appraises Iris Mwanza’s debut novel The Lions’ Den, an incisive portrait of a society grappling with change. And Kris Van der Bijl reviews David Mann’s Once Removed, a collection in tune with what it means to be a young creative in a contemporary struggle for self-identity.
In our interviews section, Sihle Ntuli talks to Seitlhamo Thabo Motsapi about subverting language, the beauty of Black creativity, and his seminal poetry collection, earthstepper / the ocean is very shallow, thirty years on from its publication. In addition, from Imprint Africa: Conversations with African Women Publishers, read an interview with the icon of publishing Ellah Wakatama, facilitated by Joel Cabrita; and an extract of an interview from Sanya Osha’s latest book, An Ethos of Transdisciplinarity: Conversations with Toyin Falola.
We’re delighted to share a luscious new piece of short fiction from Megan Ross, titled ‘Sweet Meats’.
In our poetry corner, dip into previously unpublished poetry by Abigail George and Seitlhamo Thabo Motsapi.
In our survey of new and forthcoming fiction, we present an excerpt from Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani’s Dinaane Debut Fiction Award-winning novel Buried in the Chest; ‘Too Long for Home’, a short story by Yanjanani L Banda, from the 2024 Caine Prize anthology Midnight in the Morgue; and a sample from Onke Mazibuko’s anticipated new thriller Canary.
In non-fiction, we present William Kentridge’s essay ‘It Will Always Be You’, excerpted from Your History with Me: The Films of Penny Siopis, edited by Sarah Nuttall. You can also read an excerpt from the new book by acclaimed author Christa Kuljian: Our Science, Ourselves: How Gender, Race, and Social Movements Shaped the Study of Science, as well as the Preface to Frantz Fanon: Combat Breathing by Nigel C Gibson. Elsewhere in the issue, find out about the renaissance in self-publishing in a sampler from the 2024 African Small Publishers Catalogue, and read ‘The Complexities of Intimacy for Black Middle-Class Women’, excerpted from Love in Jozi: The Black Middle Class, Love and Intimacy in Johannesburg.
From our Photo Editor Victor Dlamini this month, a literary portrait of Makhosazana Xaba.
Here’s the complete breakdown of Vol. 9, Issue 1, which you will also find on our issue archive page:
Reviews
- ‘To read a collection this accomplished is to wonder anew at how poems are made’—Finuala Dowling reviews Ingrid de Kok’s Unleaving
- A profoundly beautiful exploration of what ageing means for those who lived in compact with racial separation—Wamuwi Mbao reviews God’s Waiting Room by Casey Golomski
- A sparkling reflection on friendship, women’s bodies and the vestiges of colonialism—Shayera Dark reviews Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s new novel Dream Count
- Storytelling as a point of departure for resistance—Hassana Moosa reviews Isabella Hammad’s new novel Enter Ghost
- Omar Badsha: an ordinary South African whose struggles and triumphs offer insights into broader social movements—Sean Jacobs reviews Available Light by Daniel Magaziner
- ‘An incisive portrait of a society grappling with change’—Jennifer Malec reviews Iris Mwanza’s debut novel The Lions’ Den
- ‘Once Removed feels rare’—Kris Van der Bijl reviews David Mann’s debut short story collection
Interview
New short fiction
Poetry
Photography
Fiction excerpts
- Read ‘Too Long for Home’, new short fiction by Yanjanani L Banda, from the 2024 Caine Prize anthology Midnight in the Morgue
- ‘Before they were grandmothers, they were young’—Read an excerpt from Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani’s Dinaane Debut Fiction Award-winning novel Buried in the Chest
- ‘The gun pointed at my head is one of ours’—Read an excerpt from Onke Mazibuko’s new thriller Canary
Non-fiction
- Read William Kentridge’s essay ‘It Will Always Be You’, excerpted from Your History with Me: The Films of Penny Siopis, edited by Sarah Nuttall
- ‘The centre of my world is going to be where I say it is’—An interview with Ellah Wakatama on African publishing, excerpted from Imprint Africa
- ‘They began to see that science was not isolated from politics but shaped by it’—Read an excerpt from Our Science, Ourselves by Christa Kuljian
- What would Fanon say? Read the Preface to Frantz Fanon: Combat Breathing by Nigel C Gibson
- ‘Africans are free only to the extent of breathing’—Read an excerpt from An Ethos of Transdisciplinarity: Conversations with Toyin Falola by Sanya Osha
- Read ‘The Complexities of Intimacy for Black Middle-Class Women’, excerpted from Love in Jozi: The Black Middle Class, Love and Intimacy in Johannesburg
- ‘The self-publishing world is shaking off its stigmas and evolving’—Read an excerpt from the African Small Publishers Catalogue
