Athambile Masola – The Johannesburg Review of Books

Biography & Memoir

Every time a black woman writes their story they are resisting marginalisation—Athambile Masola reviews Barbara Masekela’s memoir Poli Poli

September 8, 2022September 8, 2022Athambile Masola1 Comment

Poli Poli by Barbara Masekela is a memoir that exemplifies the paradox of the ordinary and the spectacle in black…

Africa

‘We’re not there to beg for a place on bookshelves in German bookshops but we’re there to demand it, to claim it’—Lidudumalingani on the 2022 African Book Festival

July 14, 2022July 14, 2022The JRBLeave a Comment

The JRB chats to guest City Editor Lidudumalingani about his curatorship of this year’s African Book Festival, taking place from…

Academic

[The JRB Daily] 2022 Humanities and Social Sciences Awards winners announced—‘casting a celebratory light on those whose work often goes unnoticed’

April 1, 2022May 1, 2022Jennifer MalecLeave a Comment

Image: The 2022 HSS Awards winners. Back, from left: Aryan Kaganof, Natalia Molebatsi, Napjadi Letsoalo, Thulasizwe Simpson, Nthikeng Mohlele, Mandla…

Book excerpts

Three poems by Athambile Masola, from Ilifa

February 17, 2022February 17, 2022Athambile MasolaLeave a Comment

The JRB presents an excerpt from Ilifa, Athambile Masola’s new isiXhosa collection of poetry. IlifaAthambile MasolauHlanga Press, 2021 Isifebe NgeCawa…

Non-fiction

Private prayer and public power—Athambile Masola reviews Mothers of the Nation: Manyano Women in South Africa by Lihle Ngcobozi

June 18, 2021September 7, 2022Athambile MasolaLeave a Comment

Lihle Ngcobozi’s Mothers of the Nation reveals the social complexity and political depth of the Manyano Women’s movement, writes Athambile…

Academic

On Noni Jabavu and the return home—Makhosazana Xaba celebrates one of South Africa’s foundational literary centenarians

August 5, 2019July 27, 2020Makhosazana Xaba9 Comments

This August marks one hundred years since the birth of Noni Jabavu. Makhosazana Xaba reflects on the life of this…

Africa

Making space for women in South Africa’s political memory, or, the case of the non-intersection of Pixley ka Seme and Charlotte Maxeke Streets

October 2, 2017March 4, 2018Athambile MasolaLeave a Comment

Recently published biographies of Pixley ka Seme and Charlotte Maxeke reveal how women’s histories become insignificant back roads in the…