‘This is where all the light in the world has settled’—Read an excerpt from The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste
The JRB presents an excerpt from Maaza Mengiste’s novel The Shadow King, shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize for Fiction. The…
Tag: Book Extracts
‘We touch down, and I pray for the land of my ancestors to be good to me’—Read an excerpt from No Be From Hia by Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda
The JRB presents an excerpt from No Be From Hia, the debut novel by Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda. No Be From…
‘Oppression and thwarted aspiration are no bar to an appreciation of nature’—Read an excerpt from Jacob Dlamini’s new book Safari Nation: A Social History of the Kruger National Park
The JRB presents an excerpt from Safari Nation: A Social History of the Kruger National Park by Jacob Dlamini. Safari Nation:…
‘As much as you want to have sex with a stranger, this is mostly research’—Read an excerpt from ‘The Fool’, new writing by Nakhane, from Exhale: Queer African Erotic Fiction
The JRB presents an excerpt from ‘The Fool’ by Nakhane, from Exhale, a new anthology of queer writing. Exhale: Queer…
‘I had got involved with Dambudzo Marechera’—Read an excerpt from Flora Veit-Wild’s new memoir, They Called You Dambudzo
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from They Called You Dambudzo: A Memoir by Flora Veit-Wild. They Called You Dambudzo:…
‘Sometimes I would think, They had better interrogate me. At least there was contact.’—Read an excerpt from Women in Solitary: Inside the Female Resistance to Apartheid by Shanthini Naidoo
The JRB presents an excerpt from Shanthini Naidoo’s book Women in Solitary: Inside the Female Resistance to Apartheid. Women in…
‘The morning that followed was crisp and clear. The air was sweet as only after slaughter’—Read an excerpt from Shanice Ndlovu’s debut collection of short stories, The Pride of Noonlay
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Pride of Noonlay, the debut collection of short stories by Shanice Ndlovu. The…
New poetry by Sihle Ntuli, from Rumblin’
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents new poetry by Sihle Ntuli, from his chapbook, Rumblin’, published by uHlanga Press. ~~~…
[The JRB exclusive] ‘God withdrew from helping black people nearly thirty years ago’—Read an excerpt from Niq Mhlongo’s forthcoming novel, Paradise in Gaza
The JRB presents an excerpt from City Editor Niq Mhlongo’s new novel, Paradise in Gaza, out on 20 October 2020…
Read ‘Ugly Noo-Noos and Suburban Nightmares’ by Nicky Falkof, excerpted from Anxious Joburg: The Inner Lives of a Global South City
Nicky Falkof considers the Parktown prawn as a metaphor for the anxieties of apartheid and post-apartheid suburban life, in an…
‘Never before have both the past and the future seemed so out of reach’—Read an excerpt from Zoë Wicomb’s new novel Still Life
The JRB presents an excerpt from Still Life, the latest novel from Zoë Wicomb. Still LifeZoë WicombUmuzi, 2020 Read the…
‘The beginning of an adventure’—Read the late George Bizos’s account of his escape from Nazi-occupied Greece as a child, from his memoir Odyssey To Freedom
The JRB presents an excerpt from Odyssey To Freedom, the memoir of the late George Bizos. Bizos passed away in…
‘Lines and images stick in the mind years after they have been heard or read’—Read Ivan Vladislavić’s Introduction to My Mother’s Laughter, a new collection of poems by the late Chris van Wyk
The JRB presents an excerpt from My Mother’s Laughter: Selected Poems by Chris van Wyk, edited by Ivan Vladislavić and…
‘Bessie Head’s work jolted me awake … I had not thought it possible that a black woman could be a writer’—Read an excerpt from Barbara Boswell’s new book, And Wrote My Story Anyway
The JRB presents an excerpt from the Author’s Preface of And Wrote My Story Anyway: Black South African Women’s Novels…
‘The idea of literary imagination as a kind of violation’—Imraan Coovadia considers JM Coetzee’s Disgrace, excerpted from his new book Revolution and Non-Violence in Tolstoy, Gandhi, and Mandela
The JRB presents an excerpt from Imraan Coovadia’s new book Revolution and Non-Violence in Tolstoy, Gandhi, and Mandela. Revolution and…
[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….
[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…
[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…
[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…
[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…
[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…
[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…
[Sampler issue] ‘At the beginning, it wasn’t called feminism. It was called an attitude problem.’—Read Neliswa Tshazi’s essay from Living While Feminist
The JRB presents an excerpt from Living While Feminist: Our Bodies, Our Truths, a new collection of essays edited by…
[Sampler issue] Read an excerpt from a new edition of DDT Jabavu’s travelogue In India and East Africa / E-Indiya nase East Africa, in isiXhosa and English
The JRB presents an excerpt, in isiXhosa and English, from DDT Jabavu’s travelogue In India and East Africa / E-Indiya…
[Sampler issue] ‘The last moments before the downfall of any dictator are all surprisingly similar’—Read an excerpt from The Dictatorship Syndrome by Alaa Al Aswany
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Dictatorship Syndrome by noted author Alaa Al Aswany. Alaa Aswany first and foremost…
[Sampler issue] ‘I was outed before I was ready, but there was nothing I could do’—Read an excerpt from Jamil F Khan’s new book Khamr: The Makings of a Waterslams
The JRB presents an excerpt from Khamr: The Makings of a Waterslams, the forthcoming book by Jamil F Khan. Khamr:…
[Sampler issue] ‘I would stare at this monstrous building trying to visualise my uncle falling to his death’—Read an excerpt from The Murder of Ahmed Timol by Imtiaz A Cajee
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Murder of Ahmed Timol: My Search for the Truth by Imtiaz A Cajee….
[Sampler issue] Small-town living during the height of the Border War—Read an excerpt from Mark Winkler’s new novel Due South of Copenhagen
The JRB presents an excerpt from Due South of Copenhagen, the new novel from Mark Winkler. Due South of CopenhagenMark…
[Sampler issue] Read an excerpt from Sifiso Mzobe’s new short story collection, Searching for Simphiwe
The JRB presents an excerpt from ‘The Worst That Could Happen’, a short story by Sifiso Mzobe, from his new…
[Sampler issue] ‘A good pickpocket is also a semiotician’—Read an excerpt from Barbara Adair’s new novel WILL, the Passenger Delaying Flight …
The JRB presents an excerpt from Barbara Adair’s new novel WILL, the Passenger Delaying Flight … WILL, the Passenger Delaying…