‘Come the first of December the chains will be broken for good’—Read an excerpt from a forthcoming novel by Karen Jennings
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from The First of December, a forthcoming novel by Karen Jennings. ~~~ Of the…
Tag: Historical Fiction
[Conversation Issue] ‘I don’t want to tell my reader what to feel; I want to make them feel’—Tan Twan Eng chats to Jennifer Malec about his new novel The House of Doors
Tan Twan Eng’s third novel, The House of Doors, was longlisted for the Booker Prize, and has just been longlisted…
‘This is the voice of contemporary South African fiction’—Joanne Ruth Davis reviews Mphuthumi Ntabeni’s new novel The Wanderers
Mphuthumi Ntabeni’s The Wanderers is a novel that indicates a storyteller in love with the art of telling tales, writes…
To move about in an unkind world under the mark of racial blackness—Wamuwi Mbao reviews Scatterlings, the debut novel by Rešoketšwe Manenzhe
Wamuwi Mbao reviews Rešoketšwe Manenzhe’s novel Scatterlings, winner of the 2020 Dinaane Debut Fiction Award. ScatterlingsRešoketšwe ManenzheJacana Media, 2020 There…
[The JRB Daily] ‘A story luminously told’—Marguerite Poland’s historical novel A Sin of Omission shortlisted for prestigious Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction
The shortlist for the 2020 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction has been announced, including South African author Marguerite Poland,…
Fragments, explorations and variations—Jennifer Malec reviews Zadie Smith’s debut collection of short stories, Grand Union, her most American book to date
Zadie Smith, the accomplished, experimental New Yorker—The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec reviews Grand Union. Grand UnionZadie SmithHamish Hamilton, 2019 Read an…
[Temporary Sojourner] Liberia, the original African escapist fantasy—Efemia Chela reviews Wayétu Moore’s sweeping and poetic debut novel She Would Be King
Fantastic Returns and Where to Find Them—The JRB Francophone and Contributing Editor Efemia Chela travels to Liberia with Wayétu Moore’s…
‘I was trying to catch an echo of a memory I never experienced’—Mphuthumi Ntabeni chats to Zoë August about his novel, The Broken River Tent
Zoë August discusses The Broken River Tent, the rise of the African historical novel, and African literature’s trajectory in general,…
‘South Africa’s dystopian future could easily be imagined through its dystopian past’—Masande Ntshanga chats to Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu about his new novel, Triangulum
Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, author of The Theory of Flight, sat down with Masande Ntshanga to discuss his new novel, Triangulum….
Monuments, ‘the remains of an alien civilisation which had now fled’—Read an excerpt from Masande Ntshanga’s new novel Triangulum
The JRB presents an excerpt from Triangulum, the new novel from Masande Ntshanga. Read an interview with Masande Ntshanga on Triangulum…
‘I like writing male characters—I don’t have to get them home safely at the end of the chapter’—An interview with Aminatta Forna
Aminatta Forna sat down with The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec at the Open Book Festival in Cape Town to talk about her new novel,…
Where’s Mzansi noir?—Wamuwi Mbao laments the lack of dark and moody South African television adaptations
Wamuwi Mbao imagines a serial adaptation of Angela Makholwa’s Black Widow Society, a sleekly executed interpretation of HJ Golakai’s The Lazarus…
‘Authors in the West don’t worry about whether Africa will understand them’—Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi discusses Kintu at Wits
Ugandan author Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi visited Wits University in August, for a discussion around her debut novel, Kintu. Kintu Jennifer…
‘Historical fiction is a way of fighting rootlessness’—Ayesha Harruna Attah discusses her new novel The Hundred Wells of Salaga
Ayesha Harruna Attah’s new novel, The Hundred Wells of Salaga, has just been published by Cassava Republic Press. She chatted…
Historical fiction is back—with a fire in its belly: Fred Khumalo reflects on how writing can be a powerful tool for an activist
Fred Khumalo, whose most recent novel is Dancing the Death Drill, believes past narratives can help shape what is to…
Eking out a deeper truth on the rough seas of historical fiction: Wamuwi Mbao reviews Fred Khumalo’s Dancing the Death Drill
Dancing the Death Drill Fred Khumalo Umuzi, 2017 The historical novel presents rough seas for a writer. Attaching a novel…
[The JRB Daily] Fiction is essential in a corrupt society—Read Zakes Mda’s Sunday Times Literary Awards keynote address
Zakes Mda was the keynote speaker at the Sunday Times Literary Awards last night. Mda won the Barry Ronge Fiction…