[Photo Editor] A portrait of Bassey Ikpi by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. See this ten-year retrospective of his portraits. View this…
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‘What did you say happened here again?’—Read an excerpt from A Man, A Fire, A Corpse, Rofhiwa Maneta’s memoir of his father, ‘The Top Cop of Soweto’
The JRB presents an excerpt from Rofhiwa Maneta’s new book A Man, A Fire, A Corpse, a biography of his…
‘As the plane staggers into the sky, darkness rushes to catch it’—Read an excerpt from Chisoni, or Conversations on a Plane About Life and Death by JG Jesman
The JRB presents an excerpt from JG Jesman’s debut novel Chisoni, or Conversations on a Plane About Life and Death….
‘Almost all of Africa’s ancient artistic heritage is now preserved in European countries’—Read an excerpt from Bénédicte Savoy’s Africa’s Struggle for Its Art
The JRB presents an excerpt from Africa’s Struggle for Its Art: History of a Postcolonial Defeat by Bénédicte Savoy. Africa’s…
Sakifo to get you through the loadshedding, a playlist compiled by Tymon Smith
The JRB presents tunes and accompanying editorial from our EAP member Tymon Smith. It’s been a long, cold winter. It’s also been dark…
‘What did it mean to suffocate history so as to preserve the order of the rich?’—Read an excerpt from Washington Bullets, the new book by Vijay Prashad
The JRB presents an excerpt from Vijay Prashad‘s Washington Bullets. Washington BulletsVijay PrashadInkani Books, 2022 ‘BRING DOWN MORE US AIRCRAFT’…
‘Anxiety in South Africa does not impede existence; it has rather become part of existence’—Read an excerpt from Worrier State: Risk, Anxiety and Moral Panic in South Africa by Nicky Falkof
The JRB presents an excerpt from Nicky Falkof’s new book Worrier State: Risk, Anxiety and Moral Panic in South Africa….
‘I saw myself in him, and by seeing myself in him, I felt less alone for the first time’—Read an excerpt from Welcome Mandla Lishivha’s new memoir Boy on the Run
The JRB presents an excerpt from Boy on the Run by Welcome Mandla Lishivha. Boy on the RunWelcome Mandla LishivhaJacana…
‘No one was going to make me feel ashamed of where I come from or who I am’—Read an excerpt from Terry-Ann Adams’s new book White Chalk
The JRB presents an excerpt from White Chalk, the new collection of short stories from Terry-Ann Adams. White ChalkTerry-Ann AdamsJacana…
‘Xolani. This is the name I use in my adulthood. I haven’t always used this name.’—Read ‘What’s in a Name?’, excerpted from Racism, Violence, Betrayals and New Imaginaries: Feminist Voices
The JRB presents an excerpt from ‘What’s in a name?’ Xolani S Ngazimbi’s essay from Racism, Violence, Betrayals and New…
[The JRB Daily] 2022 Sunday Times Literary Awards longlists announced
The longlists for the 2022 Sunday Times Literary Awards have been revealed. The two awards—the Non-fiction Award and the Fiction…
[The JRB Daily] ‘Talent that will no doubt take the world by storm’—Ntsika Kota becomes first writer from Eswatini to win global Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Ntsika Kota has been announced as the overall winner of the 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, making history as the…
[The JRB Daily] ‘This is absurd, I don’t win things’—Ruth Ozeki awarded 2022 Women’s Prize for Fiction for The Book of Form and Emptiness
American–Canadian author, filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki has been announced as the winner of the 2022 Women’s Prize…
[The JRB Daily] 2022 Caine Prize for African Writing shortlist announced—‘a staggering feast’
The shortlist for the 2022 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing, awarded annually for a short story by an African…
[The JRB Daily] ‘A laughing elegy, that retains hope in the face of impending doom’—Geetanjali Shree and Daisy Rockwell win 2022 International Booker Prize for Tomb of Sand
Image: International Booker Prize Tomb of Sand, written by Geetanjali Shree and translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell, has been…
[The JRB Daily] 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize regional winners announced—including first-ever win for Eswatini
The regional winners of the 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, known as the ‘world’s most global literary prize’, have been…
[The JRB Daily] ‘African voices liberated from prescriptions of form and ideas’—Zimbabwean writer Zibusiso Mpofu wins Brunel International African Poetry Prize
Zimbabwean writer Zibusiso Mpofu has won the tenth annual Brunel International African Poetry Prize. Judges praised Mpofu’s work, saying his…
[The JRB Daily] ‘There is a myth that there is only one type of storytelling in Africa’—Sarah Isaacs wins inaugural Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa
South African writer Sarah Isaacs has won the inaugural Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa with her manuscript…
[The JRB Daily] Short Story Day Africa announce 12 writers selected for 2022 Inkubator project
The twelve writers selected for the first Short Story Day Africa Inkubator project have been announced. 36 Short Stories, 12…
The JRB: five years, 50 issues, 425 contributors
‘Africa writes back.’ With these words, The Johannesburg Review of Books debuted in May 2017, announcing an ambitious programme to…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 6, Issue 2 (May 2022)
Wamuwi Mbao • CA Davids • Yewande Omotoso • Lidudumalingani • Efemia Chela • Wairimũ Mũrĩithi • Masiyaleti Mbewe •…
[Sponsored] One minute with author Mike Nicol
Hammerman: A Walking Shadow, the new thriller from Mike Nicol, is out now from Penguin Random House SA! In the…
‘Your story told by someone else might in the end be richer’—Wamuwi Mbao reviews Culture and Liberation, the first dedicated collection of Alex La Guma’s exile writing
Culture and Liberation: Exile Writings, 1966–1985Alex La GumaEdited by Christopher J LeeSeagull Books 1966 was an interesting year. Future Trump…
‘Recitatif is cunning in its ability to expose us’—Masiyaleti Mbewe reflects on Toni Morrison’s only short story
To respect this text is to revisit it: Masiyaleti Mbewe reviews the new standalone edition of Toni Morrison’s Recitatif. RecitatifToni…
[Sponsored] New book alert! Tomorrow I Become a Woman—a powerful debut by Aiwanose Odafen
What can I do?’ she asked. You can fight, I thought, you can fight for your daughters. But then again,…
‘Time moves as slowly as it likes and then faster than you can make sense of’—Wairimũ Murĩithi reviews Okwiri Oduor’s debut novel, Things They Lost
Entering a world the author has long been building, Wairimũ Murĩithi reviews Things They Lost, the debut novel from 2014…
Tales from Mombasa—Carey Baraka speaks to Khadija Abdalla Bajaber about her award-winning debut novel, The House of Rust
Carey Baraka reviews The House of Rust, the latest tale from Mombasa, land of fables, and chats to its author,…
[Sponsored] ‘These stories are nothing short of miraculous’—Find out more about Terry-Ann Adams’s latest book, White Chalk
White Chalk, the new book from Terry-Ann Adams, will be out from Jacana Media this month! ‘White Chalk will blow…
‘My writing comes alive when I have questions, when I don’t know where I’m headed, when I’m in the dark’—Yewande Omotoso chats to Jennifer Malec about her new novel An Unusual Grief
The JRB’s Editor Jennifer Malec chats to Yewande Omotoso about questions, answers, and her new novel, An Unusual Grief. An Unusual GriefYewande OmotosoCassava,…
‘I was constantly weaving fact and fiction, and blurring truth with fable’—CA Davids chats to Efemia Chela about her new novel How to Be a Revolutionary
Contributing Editor Efemia Chela speaks to CA Davids about her new novel, How to Be a Revolutionary. How to Be a RevolutionaryCA…
‘Thank goodness, this book offers no lessons and neither soothes nor comforts’—Michael Gardiner reviews Jane Fox’s Letters to Lionel
Michael Gardiner reviews Letters to Lionel, a series of letters written to the late poet, novelist and teacher Lionel Abrahams…
Wole Soyinka vs Caroline Davis—The CIA Controversy by Adekeye Adebajo
In 2020, Caroline Davis, a British scholar, now based at England’s University College London, published the book African Literature and…
[City Editor] ‘At first sight, Johannesburg is simultaneously welcoming and unwelcoming, familiar and unfamiliar’ by Lidudumalingani
There is something permanent about how Johannesburg reveals itself to anyone arriving in it, etching itself into the memory, even…
New short fiction: ‘Home™’ by Eckard Smuts
The JRB presents a new short story by Eckard Smuts. Home™ There it was, suspended like a giant Tinkertoy assemblage in…
Four poems by Donald Parenzee
The JRB presents poetry by the late Donald Parenzee. ~~~ Lightweight poem Something of the heart’s left just here over my shoulder…
Four poems by Kelwyn Sole, from Skin Rafts
The JRB presents four poems from Kelwyn Sole’s eighth volume, Skin Rafts, which has just been published by Hands-On Books. Skin RaftsKelwyn…
Read ‘Garden Made of Water’, new short fiction by Ema Babikwa, from the forthcoming Blood Beats collection Something in the Water
The JRB presents new fiction from Ema Babikwa, from the forthcoming anthology Something in the Water: New Short Fiction from…
Celebrate lucky number issue 50 with playlist #13, compiled by Tymon Smith
The JRB presents tunes and accompanying editorial from our EAP member Tymon Smith. 13, like De La Soul’s 3, is a magic number….
‘As a woman, one has to fight’—Read an excerpt from Niq Mhlongo’s new short story collection For You, I’d Steal a Goat
The JRB presents an excerpt from ‘The In-laws’, a short story from Niq Mhlongo’s new collection, For You, I’d Steal…
‘She wonders whether the clothes of our dead look different’—Read an excerpt from Yewande Omotoso’s new novel, An Unusual Grief
The JRB presents an excerpt from An Unusual Grief, the new novel from Yewande Omotoso. An Unusual GriefYewande OmotosoCassava Republic…