[The JRB Daily] JRB Contributing Editor Bongani Madondo up for Brittle Paper Literary Award
Main image: Bongani Madondo photographed by JRB Photo Editor Victor Dlamini To celebrate their seventh anniversary, Brittle Paper recently launched the…
Author: Jennifer Malec
[The JRB Daily] Tribute to the extraordinary Dambudzo Marechera, thirty years after his death
18 August 2017 is the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Zimbabwean writer Dambudzo Marechera. He would have been sixty-five….
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 4 (August 2017)
The fourth issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books has arrived—and not a moment too soon, in our humble opinion….
‘How to write about everything’—Binyavanga Wainaina on the problems faced by African writers, and how to overcome them
Binyavanga Wainaina spoke eloquently about his writing career and his life, and how the two are intertwined, at Wits University…
The book that was read around the world: Masande Ntshanga chats about the many versions of his debut novel, The Reactive
Masande Ntshanga’s debut novel, The Reactive, came out from Umuzi in 2014. Since then, it has won international publishing contracts…
[The JRB Daily] Nthikeng Mohlele and Mohale Mashigo win the UJ Prizes for South African Writing
The winners of the 2016 University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in English have been announced. Nthikeng Mohlele…
[The JRB Daily] 2017 Man Booker Prize longlist announced—no African authors make the cut
The longlist for the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction has been announced. The prize, worth £50,000, was first awarded…
[The JRB Daily] Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie pays touching tribute to Binyavanga Wainaina: ‘A great and rare and genuine talent’
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie paid homage to Binyavanga Wainaina yesterday evening, in a touching message read out at an event at…
[The JRB Daily] Turbulent, hopeful and long overdue: Henrietta Rose-Innes considers transformation in South African literature in the Times Literary Supplement
The United Kingdom release of Henrietta Rose-Innes’s latest novel, Green Lion, is imminent, and to mark the occasion she has written…
[The JRB Daily] Sudanese writer Bushra al-Fadil wins the 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing
Sudanese writer Bushra al-Fadil has won the 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing for his story ‘The Story of the…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 3 (July 2017)
The third issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books is here, with some big reviews, in-depth interviews and quality ruminations…
‘I appreciate stories that mess with me a little’: Yewande Omotoso on her latest book, The Woman Next Door
The Woman Next Door Yewande Omotoso Chatto & Windus, 2017 Yewande Omotoso spoke to Johannesburg Review of Books editor Jennifer…
Finding beauty under apartheid: Interview with Dan Magaziner, and excerpt from his book The Art of Life in South Africa
The Art of Life in South Africa Dan Magaziner UKZN Press, 2017 Main image: Ndaleni group shot, late 1970s, Ndaleni…
[The JRB Daily] Fiction is essential in a corrupt society—Read Zakes Mda’s Sunday Times Literary Awards keynote address
Zakes Mda was the keynote speaker at the Sunday Times Literary Awards last night. Mda won the Barry Ronge Fiction…
[The JRB Daily] Zakes Mda and Greg Marinovich win Sunday Times Literary Awards
Zakes Mda and Greg Marinovich were announced as the winners of the 2017 Sunday Times Literary Awards last night. The awards…
[The JRB Daily] Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa wins €100,000 International Dublin Literary Award
Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa has won the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award for his novel A General Theory of…
[The JRB Daily] Rabih Alameddine wins Lambda Literary Award for his novel The Angel of History
Lambda Literary, an organisation advancing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) literature, has announced the winners of the 29th Annual…
[The JRB Daily] Israeli author David Grossman wins Man Booker International Prize for A Horse Walks Into a Bar
Bestselling Israeli writer David Grossman has won the 2017 Man Booker International Prize for his ‘ambitious high-wire act of a…
[The JRB Daily] UJ Prize shortlists announced: Fiction, poetry, short stories, essays and biography feature
The shortlists for the 2016 University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in English have been announced, with works…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 2 (June 2017)
The second issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books is here—replete with some of the finest writing on books and…
English here is the foreign language: A conversation with Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, author of Season of Crimson Blossoms
Season of Crimson Blossoms Abubakar Adam Ibrahim Cassava Republic Press/Pan Macmillan South Africa 2016 Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, winner of the…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 1 (May 2017)
We are delighted to present the first issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books—comprising almost twenty reviews, essays, articles, stories,…
Rest in Power, Pa Kojo: Paying tribute to Kojo Laing
Ghanaian novelist and poet B Kojo Laing passed away on Thursday, 20 April 2017 in Ghana. The JRB gathered tributes…
All you need is luck: Jennifer Malec reviews Zadie Smith’s Swing Time and Imbolo Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers
Swing Time Zadie Smith Penguin Books 2016 Behold the Dreamers Imbolo Mbue HarperCollins 2017 1. Zadie Smith’s new novel, Swing…