[Sponsored] Find out more about Mary Watson’s new novel The Cleaner (Plus: Listen to an excerpt!)
Mary Watson’s addictive, page-turning new thriller The Cleaner is out now from Penguin Random House SA! Watson is from South…
Author: The JRB
[Sponsored] ‘Arrival in the Cape’—Read an excerpt from John Stewart’s new book Sir Herbert Baker: A Biography
Jonathan Ball Publishers has shared an excerpt from Sir Herbert Baker: A Biography by John Stewart. Stewart is an award…
[Sponsored] New book alert! The Black Atlantic’s Triple Burden: Slavery, Colonialism and Reparations
The Black Atlantic’s Triple Burden: Slavery, Colonialism and Reparations, edited by Adekeye Adebajo, is out now from Jacana Media. The…
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 JRB presents an excerpt from Your History with Me: The Films of Penny Siopis, edited by Sarah Nuttall. Your…
‘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
The JRB presents an interview with Ellah Wakatama, facilitated by Joel Cabrita, excerpted from Imprint Africa: Conversations with African Women…
Read ‘Too Long for Home’, new short fiction by Yanjanani L Banda, from the 2024 Caine Prize anthology Midnight in the Morgue
The JRB presents new short fiction by Yanjanani L Band, which emerged from the Caine Prize workshops, excerpted from the…
What would Fanon say? Read the Preface to Frantz Fanon: Combat Breathing by Nigel C Gibson
The JRB presents an excerpt from Nigel C Gibson’s new book, Frantz Fanon: Combat Breathing. Frantz Fanon: Combat BreathingNigel C…
‘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 JRB presents an excerpt from Buried in the Chest by Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani, winner of the 2024 Dinaane Debut Fiction…
‘The gun pointed at my head is one of ours’—Read an excerpt from Onke Mazibuko’s new thriller Canary
The JRB presents an excerpt from Canary, the highly anticipated second novel from Onke Mazibuko. CanaryOnke MazibukoPenguin Random House SA,…
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 JRB presents an excerpt from Love in Jozi: The Black Middle Class, Love and Intimacy in Johannesburg, edited by…
‘The self-publishing world is shaking off its stigmas and evolving’—Read an excerpt from the African Small Publishers Catalogue
The 2024 African Small Publishers Catalogue has been released by Modjaji Books. Read Jessie Cooper’s essay ‘Self-publishing: A Real Choice for…
[Sponsored] New book alert! Find out more about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s new novel Dream Count
A publishing event ten years in the making—Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s new novel Dream Count has been introduced! ‘Dream Count is serious and curious…
[Sponsored] Read an excerpt from Playground—the new emotionally charged novel by award-winning author Richard Powers
Penguin Random House SA has shared an extract from Playground by Richard Powers! Longlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, this powerful novel…
[Sponsored] Cover reveal! Find out more about Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani’s award-winning debut novel Buried in the Chest
Jacana Media has shared the cover for Buried in the Chest, the Dinaane Award-winning novel by Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani, which will…
‘In Africa, the conservative realism of the military mind met the liberatory spirit of the decolonising mind’—Read an excerpt from Soldier’s Paradise by Samuel Fury Childs Daly
The JRB presents an excerpt from Samuel Fury Childs Daly’s new book, Soldier’s Paradise: Militarism in Africa After Empire. Soldier′s…
One Hundred Years of Book Covers—Read an excerpt from Publishing from the South: A Century of Wits University Press
The JRB presents an excerpt from Publishing from the South: A Century of Wits University Press. The book is available…
[Sponsored] 2022 Booker Prize winner Shehan Karunatilaka is coming to South Africa!
Shehan Karunatilaka – winner of the 2022 Booker Prize – will be in South African in October and November. His winning novel The…
[Sponsored] ‘I receive the things my grandmothers left for me’—Siphokazi Jonas introduces her debut poetry collection, Weeping Becomes a River
Penguin Random House SA has shared a video of Siphokazi Jonas introducing her ‘exquisite, courageous and moving’ poetry collection, Weeping Becomes…
[Sponsored] ‘The story started bending genres by itself’—Find out more about Charl-Pierre Naude’s new novel The Equality of Shadows
Charl-Pierre Naudé’s genre-bending new novel, The Equality of Shadows, is out now from Picador Africa. Naudé is a poet and…
[Sponsored] New book alert! Alexandra: A Backstory—a powerful graphic novel that uncovers the hidden history of Alex
Curious about Alexandra Township? Discover Its untold stories! Alexandra: A Backstory by Solam Mkhabela is out in October from Jacana…
View an excerpt of images from Zanele Muholi’s new book Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness, Vol. II
The JRB presents an excerpt from Zanele Muholi’s new book Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness, Vol. II. Somnyama Ngonyama,…
‘Those few strands of barbed wire fence stood between her and her children, her home, her husband and her country’—Read an excerpt from the new edition of Lauretta Ngcobo’s Cross of Gold
The JRB presents an excerpt from a new edition of Lauretta Ngcobo’s seminal novel Cross of Gold. Cross of GoldLauretta…
Read an excerpt from a new edition of Alex La Guma’s A Soviet Journey, including the Foreword by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
The JRB presents an excerpt from a new edition of A Soviet Journey by Alex La Guma: A Critical Annotated…
‘Unlike any other South African poem I have come across’—Read Kelwyn Sole’s Introduction to Angifi Proctor Dladla’s epic poem Maxwell the Gorilla and the Archbishop of Soshanguve
The JRB presents Kelwin Sole’s Introduction to Maxwell the Gorilla and the Archbishop of Soshanguve, an epic poem by the…
[The JRB Daily] 2024 South African Literary Awards shortlists announced—‘reflecting the dynamic and evolving literary scene’
The shortlists for the 2024 South African Literary Awards have been announced. The SALAs are awarded annually by the wRite…
[Sponsored] In the latest episode of Pagecast, Kobby Ben Ben talks to Lethabo Mailula about his powerful novel No One Dies Yet
This week on Pagecast, the podcast brought to you by Jonathan Ball Publishers, the phenomenal Kobby Ben Ben chats about…
[Sponsored] Five minutes with Sven Axelrad on his new novel God’s Pocket
Sven Axelrad is seldom seen without his dog. His dog and a pen and piece of paper. How else will…
[Sponsored] ‘A magnificent achievement’—Find out more about Morafe: Person, Family and Nation in Colonial Bechuanaland by Khumisho Moguerane
Jacana Media is thrilled to announce the release of Morafe: Person, Family and Nation in Colonial Bechuanaland, 1880s—1950s by Khumisho…
‘Because of informers, meetings were never announced beforehand’—Read an excerpt from Dayspring, the memoir of the late CJ Driver, major South African poet and exiled student politician
The JRB presents an excerpt from Dayspring, the forthcoming memoir by CJ Driver, edited and with a foreword by Nobel…
Continuities between Tswana worlds and Black world politics—Read an excerpt from Keorapetse Kgositsile and the Black Arts Movement by Uhuru Portia Phalafala
The JRB presents an excerpt from Uhuru Portia Phalafala’s new book, Keorapetse Kgositsile and the Black Arts Movement. Keorapetse Kgositsile…
‘Like knowledge, ignorance is a form of power’—Read an excerpt from Achille Mbembe’s award-winning book Brutalism
The JRB presents an excerpt from Achille Mbembe’s new book Brutalism, which was recently awarded the prestigious Holberg Prize. BrutalismAchille…
‘Listen, when the ancestors bite your ears’—Read an excerpt from Avenues by Train, the debut novel by Farai Mudzingwa
The JRB presents an excerpt from Farai Mudzingwa’s debut novel, Avenues by Train. Avenues by TrainFarai MudzingwaCassava Republic Press, 2023…
‘The dread of Whites and of ghosts loomed in his mind’—Read an excerpt from the new English translation of Louis Timagène Houat’s rediscovered classic The Maroons
The JRB presents an excerpt from the rediscovered classic The Maroons, first published in 1844 and released for the first…
‘This is my third lifespan.’—Read an excerpt from Tlotlo Tsamaase’s debut novel Womb City, a cyberpunk horror set in a future Botswana
The JRB presents an excerpt from Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase. Womb CityTlotlo TsamaaseJacana Media (Mother imprint), 2024 08:00 ///…
[Sponsored] ‘It isn’t always advisable to write things which are better left unsaid’—Five minutes with CA Davids
How to Be a Revolutionary was recently awarded the 2023 Sunday Times Fiction Prize. The Penguin Post asked the author, CA…
[Sponsored] Jo Watson chats about her new book Love at First Flight on the Pagecast podcast
Gail Schimmel interviewed Jo Watson about her latest book, Love at First Flight, on Pagecast, the podcast from Jonathan Ball Publishers! Watson…
[Sponsored] Is the Party Over? by Oscar van Heerden—a powerful account of the inner workings of a cripplingly divided political party
Is the Party Over? by Oscar van Heerden will be out from Jacana Media in March, ahead of the elections on…
[The JRB exclusive] ‘In a single life here there is so much life’—Read an excerpt from Teju Cole’s new novel Tremor
The JRB presents an excerpt from Tremor, the new novel from Teju Cole. TremorTeju ColeFaber and Faber How is one…
‘Powerful drama fused with its cerebral yet emotional writing’—Read Njabulo S Ndebele’s Foreword to the 60th anniversary edition of William ‘Bloke’ Modisane’s Blame Me on History
The JRB presents Njabulo S Ndebele’s Foreword to the new sixtieth-anniversary edition of William ‘Bloke’ Modisane’s Blame Me on History….
‘This book is being published while Gaza, where I live, is being annihilated’—Read an excerpt from Decolonising the Palestinian Mind by South African–Palestinian author Haidar Eid
The JRB presents an excerpt from Haidar Eid’s new book Decolonising the Palestinian Mind. Decolonising the Palestinian MindHaidar EidInkani Books,…