[Sponsored] First look at Ivan Vladislavić’s new novel The Distance – an intricate puzzle of a book
The Distance—the highly anticipated new novel from Ivan Vladislavić—will be out from Umuzi on 6 February 2019. Meanwhile, enjoy an…
Author: The JRB
[Sponsored] One of the first literary figures in France with a double identity, a cultural hybridity – An excerpt from The First Safari
Read an excerpt from The First Safari: Searching for François Levaillant by Ian Glenn, out now from Jacana Media! The First Safari tells…
[Sponsored] Find out more about Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s extraordinary, bestselling debut, Friday Black—PLUS excerpt
Friday Black is a piercingly raw debut story collection from Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, a young writer with an explosive voice; a…
[Sponsored] Read an excerpt from Ekow Duker’s powerful, poignant novel The God Who Made Mistakes
Pan Macmillan has shared an excerpt from The God Who Made Mistakes by Ekow Duker. The excerpt was shared as part of The Friday…
New short fiction: ‘Loadshedding’ by Michael Yee, winner of the 2018 Short Sharp Stories Award
The JRB presents ‘Loadshedding’ by Michael Yee, the winner of this year’s Short Sharp Stories Award. The Short Sharp Stories…
A 1960s summer in New York with Lewis Nkosi—Read an excerpt from Vintage Love and Other Essays by Jolyon Nuttall
The JRB presents an excerpt from Vintage Love and Other Essays by Jolyon Nuttall. Vintage Love Jolyon Nuttall Jacana Media, 2018 …
‘It was the only way we could escape our whiteness’—Read ‘Struggle Heroes’, an excerpt from Hugh Lewin’s memoir, Stones Against the Mirror
The JRB presents an excerpt from Stones Against the Mirror, the memoir of journalist, author and anti-apartheid activist Hugh Lewin,…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 3, Issue 1 (January 2019, The Conversation Issue)
Emmanuel Iduma • Lidudumalingani • Zoë Wicomb • Chigozie Obioma • Mbali Sikakana • Amatesiro Dore • Chike Frankie Edozien…
[Sponsored] Enter the Gama❤Phile Writers’ Competition and stand a chance to be published by Pan Macmillan SA
Attention aspiring storytellers: make your writing dreams a reality with the Gama❤Phile Writers’ Competition! Gama❤Phile, Pan Macmillan SA and the Pilanesberg…
[Conversation Issue] ‘Intersectionality seems so blindingly obvious a notion’—Zoë Wicomb in conversation with Andrew van der Vlies, from their new book Race, Nation, Translation
As part of our January Conversation Issue, we present an excerpted interview from a new collection of Zoë Wicomb’s writing, Race,…
[Sponsored] Award announcement: Submissions for the Gerald Kraak Prize will be kept open all year
From now on submissions for the Gerald Kraak Prize will be kept open all year round. Selections for the 2019…
[Sponsored] Cari Mora – From the creator of Hannibal Lecter comes a story of evil, greed, and the consequences of dark obsession
Penguin Random House has revealed the cover for Cari Mora, the new novel from Thomas Harris, bestselling author and creator of The…
[Sponsored] New poetry from Alice Walker in the ‘playfully imaginative and intensely moving’ Taking the Arrow out of the Heart
Mindful poems about tolerance, justice and hope for the future, by Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple….
New short fiction: ‘Njuzu’ by TL Huchu, excerpted from the Pan-African science fiction anthology AfroSFv3
The JRB presents ‘Njuzu’, a new short story by TL Huchu, excerpted from AfroSFv3. AfroSFv3 Edited by Ivor W Hartmann…
[Sponsored] ‘Why can’t a girl from Soweto become a mermaid?’ Mohale Mashigo chats about her new book, Intruders
Mohale Mashigo chatted to The Reading List about her new book, Intruders. Read ‘The High Heel Killer’ – a short…
[Sponsored] Find out more about Chigozie Obioma’s new novel, An Orchestra of Minorities
An Orchestra of Minorities is the second novel by Chigozie Obioma, the author of The Fishermen, which was shortlisted for…
[Sponsored] Read an excerpt and view photos from Michelle Obama’s intimate, powerful and inspiring memoir, Becoming
Penguin Random House has shared an excerpt and photographs from Michelle Obama’s deeply personal memoir Becoming, a work of deep reflection and…
[Sponsored] New book alert! We Are No Longer at Ease: The Struggle for #FeesMustFall
We Are No Longer at Ease is a collection of personal articles, essays, speeches and poetry mainly from voices of young…
[Sponsored] Are we reaching a new level of mental fragility? Rebecca Davis chats about her new book Self-Helpless: A Cynic’s Search for Sanity
Rebecca Davis chatted to The Reading List about her new book Self-Helpless: A Cynic’s Search for Sanity, a humorous take on…
[The JRB Exclusive] An excerpt from Tsitsi Dangarembga’s This Mournable Body, the third in the Tambudzai Trilogy that began with Nervous Conditions
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from This Mournable Body, the highly anticipated new novel from Tsitsi Dangarembga. Scroll to…
[Sponsored] The Man Who Killed Apartheid: The Life of Dimitri Tsafendas – a complete about turn on one of the apartheid government’s greatest cover-ups
The Man Who Killed Apartheid: The Life of Dimitri Tsafendas by Harris Dousemetzis is out now from Jacana Media. In…
‘Even death dey fear me.’—Read an excerpt from Nnedi Okorafor’s short story ‘Showlogo’, from the new anthology Lagos Noir
The JRB presents an excerpt from a short story by Nnedi Okorafor, taken from the new anthology Lagos Noir. Lagos…
[Sponsored] ‘To be interesting is to be noticed and to be noticed is dangerous’ – Read an extract from Anna Burns’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel Milkman
Jonathan Ball Publishers has shared an extract from Anna Burns’s novel Milkman, which was recently awarded the 2018 Man Booker Prize. Milkman is…
[Sponsored] ‘Writing is like removing your own appendix with a pair of rusty scissors’—Mark Winkler chats about his new book Theo and Flora
Mark Winkler discusses his new novel, Theo & Flora, and why writing is like performing surgery on yourself. Winkler sat down…
Read an excerpt from What Is Africa to Me? by Guadeloupean author Maryse Condé, winner of the ‘alternative Nobel’ literature prize
A giant of black feminist writing and thought, Maryse Condé was recently awarded the New Academy Prize in Literature, a…
‘He took us only as far as Auschwitz’—Read an excerpt from Everyone is Present: Essays on Photography, Memory and Family by Terry Kurgan
After a pleasant day that perhaps included a light lunch in Hotel Zator, they would write postcards to family or…
A chronicle of the city’s expansion—photographs from the new book Johannesburg Then and Now
The cover image for the November 2018 issue of The JRB is excerpted from the new book Johannesburg Then and…
Johannesburg’s literary subterranean horror—Read an excerpt from South African Gothic by Rebecca Duncan
The JRB presents an excerpt from South African Gothic: Anxiety and Creative Dissent in the Post-apartheid Imagination and Beyond by…
[Sponsored] Read an excerpt from Transcription, the new novel from bestselling, award-winning author Kate Atkinson
Penguin Random House has shared an extract from Transcription, the magnificent new novel by bestselling, award-winning Kate Atkinson, author of…
[Sponsored] Cover reveal: The Freedom Artist, the new novel by Booker Prize-winning author Ben Okri
Jonathan Ball Publishers has revealed the cover for The Freedom Artist, the new novel by Booker Prize-winning author Ben Okri! ‘Okri’s…
[Sponsored] Out now from the Picador Africa Heritage Series: Call Me Woman by Ellen Kuzwayo
Picador Africa celebrates five important books in the Heritage Series. 491 Days: Prisoner Number 1323/69 by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Conversations with…
[Sponsored] A remarkable new literary talent – Read an excerpt from Tumelo Buthelezi’s debut novel The Last Sentence
‘Come to me …’ she said, softly, ‘and I will make your pen sing again.’ BlackBird Books has shared an…
‘Man’s afraid of a few sharks’—Read an excerpt from Poacher: Confessions From the Abalone Underworld by Kimon de Greef and Shuhood Abader
Flares exploded in the sky. Stun grenades fired into the water. From the dunes came a volley of gunshots. It…
[The JRB Daily] Siphiwo Mahala delivers his inaugural postdoctoral address at the premiere of his new documentary on Can Themba
Author Siphiwo Mahala gave gave his inaugural postdoctoral address last night at the Market Theatre, Johannesburg, as part of a…
‘You have to write like a suicide bomber, you have to detonate’—Arundhati Roy discusses The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
Arundhati Roy visited South Africa on a book tour recently, and sat down with The JRB to discuss her highly…
[Sponsored] Find out more about Sally Rooney’s Man Booker Prize-longlisted novel, Normal People
‘Excellent’ – Sunday Times ‘Totally intoxicating’ – Vice ‘Extraordinary and moving’ – Observer ‘Sally Rooney is a treasure’ – Elif…
Unsettling old assumptions about xenophobia—Read an excerpt from I Want to Go Home Forever: Stories of Becoming and Belonging in South Africa’s Great Metropolis
The JRB presents ‘On Patrol in the Dark City’, an excerpt from I Want to Go Home Forever: Stories of Becoming and…
[Sponsored] Cover reveal—Zakes Mda’s new novel The Zulus of New York
Umuzi has revealed the cover for Zakes Mda’s new novel The Zulus of New York! The Zulus of New York is a work…
[Sponsored] Lives of Great Men by Chike Frankie Edozien—an incredibly powerful portrayal of what it means to be a gay Nigerian man
Lives of Great Men, the award-winning memoir from Chike Frankie Edozien, is out now from Jacana Media. The book won…
[Sponsored] Read an excerpt from Tomi Adeyemi’s epic West African fantasy novel Children of Blood and Bone
Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone is a West African Fantasy about a girl who must fight against the monarchy to…