[Sponsored] Make your book dream come true with Paper Frog Publishing, a subdivision of LAPA and Penguin Random House SA
Many authors dream of being published, but they do not want to surrender total control to a traditional publisher. Paper…
Blog
Of fear and motherly love—Rofhiwa Maneta reviews Imani Perry’s memoir Breathe: A Letter to My Sons
Imani Perry’s Breathe is a memoir committed to the radical hope that sees Black boys as more than problems to…
Philosophy in Africa, or Africa in Philosophy? Mary Carman reviews Debating African Philosophy: Perspectives on Identity, Decolonial Ethics and Comparative Philosophy
Mary Carman reviews Debating African Philosophy, a new collection of essays that originated during student protests and demands for the…
[Sponsored] Mubanga Kalimamukwento wins Best Fiction at the 2020 CDI Zambia Tell Your Own Story National Book Awards
Congratulations to author Mubanga Kalimamukwento for winning the Best Fiction Award at the 2020 CDI Zambia Tell Your Own Story National Book…
[City Editor] ‘Writers do not write alone. They are always in the company of other writers’—Lidudumalingani reflects on reading books that make you write
Some days are longer than others, and during this Covid-19 controlled reality, it seems like someone out there somewhere keeps…
[Photo Editor] A portrait of George Hallett by Victor Dlamini
Photographer George Hallett died this week. See The JRB’s obituary here, and an appreciation of Hallett by our Photo Editor,…
‘NO ONE IS SAFE’, a poem by Allan Kolski Horwitz
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents a new poem by Allan Kolski Horwitz. ~~~ NO ONE IS SAFE …
[Exclusive] Read an excerpt from Sex and Lies, the first work of non-fiction in English from award-winning Moroccan author Leïla Slimani
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from Leïla Slimani’s new book Sex and Lies. Sex and LiesLeïla Slimani (translated by…
‘The brown man in a white man’s city who is watching other brown men.’ Read an excerpt from Amnesty, the new novel from Man Booker Prize winner Aravind Adiga
The JRB presents an excerpt from Aravind Adiga’s new novel Amnesty, a riveting, suspenseful and exuberant novel about a young…
‘Thinking while black’—Read Grace A Musila’s essay from the award-winning book Black Academic Voices: The South African Experience
‘How do we craft a healthy, dignified blackness, in a world where blackness is a captured identity location that needs…
‘Those gold men really think this land belongs to them’—Read an excerpt from How Much of These Hills is Gold, C Pam Zhang’s debut novel, which reimagines the myth of the American West
The JRB presents an excerpt from How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang, a revisionist immigrant…
Read ‘Black children and white dolls’ by Kopano Ratele, excerpted from his book The World Looks Like This From Here: Thoughts on African Psychology
The JRB presents an excerpt from The World Looks Like This From Here: Thoughts on African Psychology, by psychologist and…
‘Race matters. It matters because of the meanings we give to it.’ Read an excerpt from Race Otherwise: Forging a New Humanism for South Africa by Zimitri Erasmus
This excerpt is based on a chapter from a Zimitri Erasmus’s book Race Otherwise: Forging a New Humanism for South…
‘It’s surreal that a coming-of-age story set in Umlazi has found another home in the USA’—International deal for Sifiso Mzobe’s debut novel Young Blood (Plus: Excerpt)
United States publisher Catalyst Press has acquired the rights to publish Sifiso Mzobe’s award-winning novel Young Blood in North America….
[The JRB Daily] 2020 Ingrid Jonker Prize for English Poetry shortlist announced
The four books shortlisted for the Ingrid Jonker Prize for English Poetry have been announced. The prize, one of South…
How to make photographs that mattered—The JRB Photo Editor Victor Dlamini remembers George Hallett
The JRB Photo Editor Victor Dlamini pays tribute to George Hallett, who passed away today. I first got to know…
George Hallett, 1942—2020, RIP
Header image: Brother George, by The JRB Photo Editor Victor Dlamini Legendary South African photographer George Hallett has died, according…
[The JRB Daily] ‘We made a mistake’—Media24 Books apologises for lack of diversity in literary awards judging panels
Media24 Books has released a statement in the wake of the outcry over the lack of diversity in this year’s…
[The JRB Daily] Writers condemn the lack of diversity in the 2020 Media24 Books Literary Prizes
Yesterday, the winners of this year’s annual Media24 Books Literary Prizes were announced. When The JRB published the news this…
[The JRB Daily] Media24 Books Literary Prizes winners announced, including Jonny Steinberg, Trevor Sacks and Edyth Bulbring
Header image: Jonny Steinberg, Trevor Sacks, Zirk van den Berg, Loftus Marais, Edyth Bulbring, Fanie Viljoen, Theodore Key The winners…
[The JRB Daily] Zambian author Namwali Serpell shortlisted for Arthur C Clarke Award, the UK’s most prestigious prize for science fiction
The shortlist for the 34th Arthur C Clarke Award has been announced, including The Old Drift by Zambian author Namwali…
Elsa Joubert, 1922—2020, RIP
Acclaimed author Elsa Joubert has died at the age of ninety-seven. Joubert’s son, Nico Steytler, has confirmed that his mother…
[The JRB Daily] Youssouf Amine Elalamy wins 2020 Prix Orange du Livre en Afrique—a prize that celebrates French writing by African writers and publishers
Moroccan author Youssouf Amine Elalamy has won the second annual Prix Orange du Livre en Afrique, for his novel C’est…
[The JRB Daily] 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize regional winners announced—including Nigerian writer Innocent Chizaram Ilo
The regional winners of the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, known as the world’s ‘most global literature prize’, have been…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 4, Issue 5 (May 2020)
Alain Mabanckou • Ama Ata Aidoo • David Goldblatt • Tayari Jones • Jacob Dlamini • Abi Daré • Lidudumalingani…
[Sampler issue] ‘Could I be you?’ Photographs and text from Ex Offenders at the Scene of Crime by David Goldblatt
The JRB presents a selection of photographs and personal stories from Ex Offenders at the Scene of Crime: South Africa…
[Sponsored] Marked down for lockdown—discover over 35 incredible ebooks from Pan Macmillan, now on sale!
Read and stay safe with this unmissable collection of Pan Macmillan SA ebooks! Available for both Amazon Kindle and Kobo ereaders, enjoy non-fiction inspiration,…
[Sampler issue] Read an exclusive excerpt from Silver Sparrow, the new novel from award-winning author Tayari Jones
When did I first discover that although I was an only child, my father was not my father and mine…
[Sampler issue] Read an exclusive excerpt from Alain Mabanckou’s new novel The Death of Comrade President, a tale of family and revolution in postcolonial Congo
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from The Death of Comrade President, the new novel from Alain Mabanckou. The Death…
[Sponsored] Pieter-Louis Myburgh wins Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Reporting for his book Gangster State: Unravelling Ace Magashule’s Web of Capture
Congratulations to Pieter-Louis Myburgh, who has won the Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Reporting. The Taco Kuiper Award, now in…
[Sampler issue] Read an exclusive excerpt from Jacob Dlamini’s new book The Terrorist Album: Apartheid’s Insurgents, Collaborators, and the Security Police
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from The Terrorist Album: Apartheid’s Insurgents, Collaborators, and the Security Police by Jacob Dlamini….
[Sampler issue] Read an excerpt from the first South African edition of the previously banned book Malibongwe: Poems from the Struggle by ANC Women, including poetry by Baleka Mbete
The JRB presents an excerpt from Malibongwe: Poems from the Struggle by ANC Women—a new edition of a lost piece…
[Sponsored] Buy the ebook and get the print edition free!
Jacana Media is running a special offer: buy the ebook and get the print edition free as soon as it…
[Sampler issue] Read an excerpt from a new short story by Ama Ata Aidoo, from the book Between the Generations: An Anthology for Ama Ata Aidoo at 80
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from Between the Generations: An Anthology for Ama Ata Aidoo at 80. Between the…
[Sampler issue] Read an exclusive excerpt from Abi Daré’s debut novel The Girl with the Louding Voice, ‘a celebration of girls who dare to dream’
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Girl with the Louding Voice, the debut novel by Abi Daré. The Girl…
[Sponsored] Video: Anneleigh Jacobsen’s thriller Corporation Games explores the greed, sex and power imbalance of the corporate world
The Boekemakranka team Trisa and Analize recently chatted to Anneleigh Jacobsen about her fictional corporate thriller, Corporation Games. Anneleigh’s debut is…
[Sampler issue] Read an excerpt from Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell—a fictionalised account of the short life of William Shakepeare’s son
The JRB presents an excerpt from Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. HamnetMaggie O’FarrellHeadline, 2020…
[Sampler issue] ‘She wasn’t listening this time. She wasn’t stopping. This time she was running.’—Read an excerpt from a work in progress by Margie Orford
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Last Weekend, the working title of a novel in progress by Editorial Advisory…
[Sponsored] ‘It starts with the striking of a match’—Read an excerpt from Firewatching, the ‘clever and compulsive’ debut thriller by Russ Thomas
Jonathan Ball Publishers has shared an excerpt from Firewatching, the debut novel from Russ Thomas! Firewatching is a taut investigative thriller bursting with…
[Sampler issue] When Kim Jiyoung was born, her mother held her in her arms and wept—Read an excerpt from Cho Nam-joo’s multi-million copy bestseller Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982
The JRB presents an excerpt from Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo, originally published as 82년생 김지영 by Minumsa…