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A captivating novel that will make you laugh, cry and see the world anew: read an extract from the hauntingly…
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The over-intellectualisation of desire—Efemia Chela reviews Anne Garréta’s newly translated memoir Not One Day
The JRB Francophone and Contributing Editor Efemia Chela reviews Not One Day, Anne Garréta’s memoir and the second of her books to be…
[City Editor] South Africa’s cultural game-changers—Niq Mhlongo believes book clubs are changing the literary landscape
A major change is happening on the South African literary landscape, and it has its roots in the formation of…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits of Imraan Coovadia and TJ Dema by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. Don’t miss the ten-year retrospective…
New short fiction: ‘All Our Lives’ by Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor, winner of the 2017 Short Story Day Africa Prize
The JRB is presents the three winning stories from this year’s Short Story Day Africa Prize. Nigerian writer Tochukwu Emmanuel…
New short fiction: ‘The Piano Player’ by Agazit Abate, joint runner-up in the 2017 Short Story Day Africa Prize
The JRB presents the three winning stories from this year’s Short Story Day Africa Prize. Nigerian writer Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor…
New short fiction: ‘God Skin’ by Michael Yee, joint runner-up in the 2017 Short Story Day Africa Prize
The JRB presents the three winning stories from this year’s Short Story Day Africa Prize. Nigerian writer Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor…
In tribute to David Goldblatt—an excerpt from TJ, his authoritative collection of Johannesburg photographs
‘Johannesburg is a fragmented city. It is not a place of smoothly integrated parts. And it has a name that…
[The JRB Daily] Harry Kalmer and Bongani Ngqulunga win Sunday Times Literary Awards
‘I dedicate this win to my mother and my father, who never went to school. It just shows what…
[The JRB Daily] 2017 Short Story Day Africa Prize winner announced
Nigerian writer Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor has won the prestigious Short Story Day Africa Prize for his story ‘All Our Lives’. The…
[The JRB Daily] Masande Ntshanga, Omar Robert Hamilton, Anietie Isong and Kayo Chingonyi shortlisted for Society of Authors 2018 Authors’ Awards
Four African authors have been shortlisted for the Society of Authors 2018 Authors’ Awards. South African novelist Masande Ntshanga and…
[The JRB Daily] Irish author Mike McCormack wins ‘world’s richest annual literary prize’ for his one-sentence novel Solar Bones
Irish author Mike McCormack has won the 2018 International Dublin Literary Award for his novel Solar Bones. The 270-page novel…
[The JRB Daily] Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie awarded 2018 PEN Pinter Prize for ‘fierce intellectual determination to define the real truth of our lives and our societies’
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been awarded the 2018 PEN Pinter Prize. The prize is awarded annually to a writer who, in the…
[The JRB Daily] Kamila Shamsie wins 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction for her ‘remarkable’ novel Home Fire
Image: Bloomsbury editor-in-chief Alexandra Pringle, Kamila Shamsie and her literary agent Victoria Hobbs (Credit: Bloomsbury UK) British–Pakistani writer Kamila Shamsie…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 2, Issue 6 (June 2018)
Welcome to the sixth issue of Volume 2 of The Johannesburg Review of Books. This month, we review a trio…
One of the decade’s most intriguing works of fiction: Wamuwi Mbao reviews Akwaeke Emezi’s debut novel Freshwater
Akwaeke Emezi’s Freshwater is a striking, startling, butterfly-net of a novel, writes Wamuwi Mbao.
[Sponsored] Read an excerpt from Mphuthumi Ntabeni’s The Broken River Tent, a novel about the life and times of the Xhosa chief Maqoma
Jacana Media has shared an extract from The Broken River Tent, the debut novel by Mphuthumi Ntabeni.
‘Being in South Africa as an author has shifted my perspective’—Zinzi Clemmons chats to The JRB about her debut novel, What We Lose
Zinzi Clemmons was in South Africa recently on a book tour for her debut novel, What We Lose. She sat…
[Temporary Sojourner] Efemia Chela reads Roland Rugero’s Baho!—the first Burundian novel to be translated into English
Ableism and the silent roar: The JRB Francophone and Contributing Editor Efemia Chela travels to Burundi with Roland Rugero’s novel Baho! in The…
[Sponsored] Writers! Send Pan Macmillan SA the manuscript for your future bestseller during open submissions week
It’s time to polish up that manuscript! Pan Macmillan South Africa’s open submissions week is starting this week! The open…
‘It’s clearly more harrowing to be time travelling when black’—Imraan Coovadia chats to Jennifer Malec about his new spec-fic novel A Spy in Time
Award-winning author Imraan Coovadia chats to The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec about his new novel, A Spy in Time. A Spy…
A victorious coming-of age novel: Outlwile Tsipane reviews Olumide Popoola’s superb debut, When We Speak of Nothing
Olúmìdé Pópóọlá’s debut novel, When We Speak of Nothing, seems to indicate a blossoming of things to come, writes Outlwile…
[Sponsored] Read an excerpt from I am Pandarus by Michiel Heyns, shortlisted for the Herman Charles Bosman Prize
Jonathan Ball Publishers has shared an excerpt from I am Pandarus, the new novel from acclaimed author Michiel Heyns. I am…
[City Editor] The biography of a generation—Niq Mhlongo reviews Clinton Chauke’s Born in Chains: The Diary of an Angry ‘Born Free’
The JRB City Editor Niq Mhlongo reviews Clinton Chauke’s debut book, Born in Chains: The Diary of an Angry ‘Born Free’. Born…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits of Masello Motana and Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. Don’t miss the ten-year retrospective…
[Sponsored] Win a copy of The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson PLUS a T-shirt
The Reading List is giving away two copies of The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson PLUS…
Pede Hollist chats to James Murua about his book So the Path Does Not Die and the ‘vibrant’ Sierra Leonean literary scene
Sierra Leonean writer and 2013 Caine Prize shortlistee Pede Hollist was at the Goethe-Institut in Nairobi in May to kick…
New poetry by Gabeba Baderoon: ‘Promised land’
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents a new poem by Gabeba Baderoon, from her forthcoming collection The History of Intimacy, out…
How to write when the novel is dead: Jennifer Malec reviews Autumn and Winter—the first two books of Ali Smith’s seasonal quartet
Ali Smith’s seasonal quartet is a lesson in how to create novels that reflect the now in all its glory and…
‘Johannesburg, the first and last city of our century’: Read an exclusive excerpt from Imraan Coovadia’s new novel, A Spy in Time
Many case officers liked to take a tablet to turn white, believing that it made the job easier. I think…
‘I had the nerve to like my hair just the way it was’—Listen to Zinzi Clemmons read from her debut novel What We Lose
Exclusive to The JRB, listen to a recording of Zinzi Clemmons reading from her debut novel, What We Lose. What…
‘The glutton ate the snail and it made his cheeks explode’: Read an excerpt from Baho! by Burundian author Roland Rugero
The JRB is proud to present an excerpt from Roland Rugero’s novel Baho!—the first Burundian novel to be translated from French…
Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ’s novel Nairobi Heat is now available in French as Là où meurent les rêves
« Qu’est-ce que ça te fait à toi, l’homme noir d’Amérique, d’être au Kenya ? » Voilà une question qui taraude l’inspecteur Ishmael….
What we talk about when we talk about French: New words enter the 2019 Larousse and Le Robert
The French language is notoriously conservative. There is even a congregation of very serious people—l’Académie française—that decides how the language…
[The JRB Daily] 2018 Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award longlist announced
The longlist for the eighth annual Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award has been announced by the Jacana Literary Foundation. Sixty-three…
[The JRB Daily] The Golden Man Booker Prize shortlist announced—the ‘five best Booker Prize winners of all time’
The shortlist for the Golden Man Booker Prize, honouring the best work of fiction from the last five decades of the…
[The JRB Daily] Pwaangulongii Dauod wins 2018 Gerald Kraak Award for his essay ‘Africa’s future has no space for stupid black men’
Pwaangulongii Dauod has won the R25 000 Gerald Kraak Award, which honours African writing and photography that ‘provokes thought on the…
[The JRB Daily] 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlist announced, including Fred Khumalo and Michelle Sacks
The shortlist has been announced for the seventh annual Commonwealth Short Story Prize. The prize is awarded annually to ‘the best…
[The JRB Daily] Short Story Day Africa Prize shortlist announced, revealing ‘uncomfortable and fascinating truths about who we are’
The shortlist for the Short Story Day Africa Prize for Short Fiction has been announced. The prize is worth $800…
[The JRB Daily] Olga Tokarczuk’s ‘startling’ novel Flights wins 2018 Man Booker International Prize
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft, has been announced as the winner of the 2018 Man Booker International…