[Fiction Issue] Read ‘Let That Sink In’, a psest by Ben Williams
The JRB presents a psest by Ben Williams. Let That Sink In A writer once told me he carried around…
Tag: Ben Williams
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…
How to write like a white person—Ben Williams presents notes towards a framework for reading white fiction’s ‘literature of success’
In the context of increasing scrutiny on the literary production of white writers, Ben Williams offers up some ideas on…
Remembering Achmat Dangor
Achmat Dangor, one of The JRB’s founding Patrons, died in September. Ben Williams remembers him. It is a year of…
[The JRB Exclusive] Read the first act of Petina Gappah’s new Dambudzo Marechera play, Black Sunlight
The JRB presents an exclusive first look at Petina Gappah’s new play, Black Sunlight. Gappah’s first play, adapted from her…
[Conversation Issue] ‘I wanted to throw back the curtain on some of the things and places that “nice” people avoid talking about’—Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan talks to Ben Williams about her bestselling Singlish novel Sarong Party Girls
As part of our January Conversation Issue, The JRB Publisher Ben Williams chats to Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan about her debut…
[City Editor] Arsène, Mos Def, Ben Okri and me—authors and the problems of mistaken identity, by Niq Mhlongo
On 25 June 2019, during the State of the Nation (SONA) debate, our Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula tried to impress…
Is South African literature perceived as insular? Mbali Sikakana talks to Michael Barron of Melville House Publishing
Despite a strong heritage stretching back more than a century, South African fiction remains largely unfamiliar—apart from a handful of…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 1 (May 2017)
We are delighted to present the first issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books—comprising almost twenty reviews, essays, articles, stories,…
A knockout crime debut from Lagos: Ben Williams reviews Leye Adenle’s Easy Motion Tourist
Easy Motion Tourist Leye Adenle Cassava Republic Press/Pan Macmillan South Africa 2016 1. On September 21st 2015, a Monday, a…