AfricaSouth Africa

‘I choose intersectionality, I choose diversity, I choose multiple perspectives.’—Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu chats to Jennifer Malec about her latest novel, The Quality of Mercy

The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec speaks to Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu about casting spells, writing with empathy, and winning one of…

Fiction

‘Why so long and why now? … I suppose I forgot I was a writer’—Morabo Morojele chats to Lebohang Mojapelo about his forthcoming novel Three Egg Dilemma

Lebohang Mojapelo chatted to Morabo Morojele about his forthcoming novel, Three Egg Dilemma, to be published this month—fifteen years after…

Fiction

‘When the Booker longlisting happened, I thought, oh, I’m going to have to start writing again’—Karen Jennings chats to Jennifer Malec about writing, fame and loneliness (Plus: exclusive audio)

Author Karen Jennings was in conversation with The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec at the Origins Centre in Johannesburg recently, as…

Fiction

‘What happens when you have a crime committed against a person that never ever comes to an end?’—Margie Orford talks to Jennifer Malec about her new novel The Eye of the Beholder

The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec sat down with Margie Orford to talk about the challenges of writing about sexual violence, the politics…

Fiction

‘I think that it is important for every woman to claim the “nasty” in her’—Anna Stroud interviews Joy Watson on her debut novel, The Other Me

Anna Stroud chatted to Joy Watson about nasty women, how the markers of identity write themselves into our stories, and…

Interviews

‘Someone tried to break into my house while I was writing this book’—Christopher McMichael talks to mpho ndaba about his new book Shoot to Kill: Police and Power in South Africa

Christopher McMichael sat down with mpho ndaba to discuss violent policing, its historical origins, and his new book Shoot to…

Afrikaans

‘For me, the truth is important because we have been fed so many books with lies’—An interview with Terry-Ann Adams on their new collection of short stories, White Chalk

The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec chatted to Terry-Ann Adams about writing, representation, and their new collection of short stories, White…

Interviews

‘I find hope in the super uncomfortable, taboo-to-talk-about, ugly things’—Lebohang Mojapelo interviews Warsan Shire on her new book, Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head

Lebohang Mojapelo speaks to Warsan Shire about that Beyoncé moment, the importance of bearing witness, and her new book, Bless…

Africa

‘Writing is open to everyone, regardless of their background or where they’re from’—An interview with Eswatini’s first Commonwealth Short Story Prize winner Ntsika Kota

The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec chatted to Ntsika Kota, winner of the 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for his story, ‘and the…

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

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

Africa

‘My writing comes alive when I have questions, when I don’t know where I’m headed, when I’m in the dark’—Yewande Omotoso chats to Jennifer Malec about her new novel An Unusual Grief

The JRB’s Editor Jennifer Malec chats to Yewande Omotoso about questions, answers, and her new novel, An Unusual Grief. An Unusual GriefYewande OmotosoCassava,…

Fiction

‘I was constantly weaving fact and fiction, and blurring truth with fable’—CA Davids chats to Efemia Chela about her new novel How to Be a Revolutionary

Contributing Editor Efemia Chela speaks to CA Davids about her new novel, How to Be a Revolutionary. How to Be a RevolutionaryCA…

Fiction

‘Where is the last rational place left in the world, for heaven’s sake?’—Lebohang Mojapelo interviews Wole Soyinka on his new novel, Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth

Lebohang Mojapelo interviews Wole Soyinka on his new novel. Chronicles From the Land of the Happiest People on EarthWole SoyinkaBloomsbury,…

Book excerpts

‘Wouter Basson didn’t reply to my queries’—Imraan Coovadia chats to Jennifer Malec about his new book The Poisoners: On South Africa’s Toxic Past

Award-winning author Imraan Coovadia chats to The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec about the mechanisms of good and evil, emailing Wouter Basson, and his…

Africa

‘Putting myself in those blood-soaked shoes was the most difficult thing to contend with’—Robert Jones Jr talks to Efemia Chela about his debut novel The Prophets

Contributing Editor Efemia Chela spoke to Robert Jones Jr about his debut novel, The Prophets. The ProphetsRobert Jones JrQuercus Publishing, 2021 Efemia…

Fiction

‘Most of the stories have been told by now, it’s just the ways of telling that are new’—Damon Galgut talks with Mark Gevisser about his new novel, The Promise

Damon Galgut was in conversation with Mark Gevisser recently for the launch of his latest novel, The Promise. This is…

Fiction

‘They say charity begins at home. But so does depression’—Mercy Dhliwayo talks to Jennifer Malec about her debut collection of short stories, Bringing Us Back

Mercy Dhliwayo chatted to The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec about family relationships, border jumping, and her debut collection of short…

Africa

‘I wanted to explore the “otherness” we feel when we go back home’—Femi Kayode talks to Jennifer Malec about his debut novel, Lightseekers

Femi Kayode chatted to The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec about being ‘other’ in your home country, the nature of evil, and his…

International

Poetry as a short circuit in the machine of communication—Lidudumalingani talks to Simon van Schalkwyk about his debut collection, Transcontinental Delay

Guest City Editor Lidudumalingani talks to Academic Editor Simon van Schalkwyk about identity, memory, psychogeography, and his new poetry collection,…

Africa

‘I was anticipating that it would be banned before we even got it out’—Stella Nyanzi chats to Esther Mirembe about her prison poetry collection No Roses from My Mouth

In February 2020, poet and academic Stella Nyanzi was acquitted and released from prison after being held for eighteen months…

Africa

‘The majority of writers in Africa, of us, confine ourselves, rather than having great ambition’—An interview with Nuruddin Farah, by Lebohang Mojapelo

Internationally renowned Somali novelist Nuruddin Farah is known for his politically conscious writing, which led him into exile as a…

Africa

‘If I had power over the lexical landscape, I would get rid of the word immigrant’—Nana Oforiatta Ayim talks to Wamuwi Mbao about her debut novel The God Child

Nana Oforiatta Ayim is a Ghanaian writer, filmmaker and art historian. On a balmy traffic-clagged Cape Town morning, I meet…

Africa

‘I do not manage my Africanness. I fight for it. I constantly have to defend it.’—Indo-Mauritian poet Moshumee T Dewoo talks to Ahmet Sait Akçay

Turkish author Ahmet Sait Akçay chats to Indo-Mauritian poet Moshumee T Dewoo about being denied Africanness, the hypocrisy of religion,…

Children

[Conversation Issue] ‘I know what lurks in the bushes. And that’s how I write the stories’—Jason Reynolds talks to Tony Eprile about resistance and the imagination

As part of our January Conversation Issue, author and Editorial Advisory Panel member Tony Eprile is in conversation with Jason…

Fiction

[Conversation Issue] ‘I seek out women who make unpopular decisions in my writing because they’re more interesting to me’—Nicole Dennis-Benn chats to Wamuwi Mbao about her bestselling novel, Patsy

As part of our January Conversation Issue, Wamuwi Mbao chats to Nicole Dennis-Benn about her work, the process of writing…

Africa

[Conversation Issue] ‘Appropriation is not in and of itself a bad thing, but the way it’s invoked in the culture makes it seem like it is’—Lauren Michele Jackson talks to Khanya Mtshali about her book, White Negroes

As part of our January Conversation Issue, Lauren Michele Jackson talks to Khanya Mtshali about her new book, White Negroes:…

Interviews

[Conversation Issue] [City Editor] Is it possible, or necessary, to write a friendlier and prettier Johannesburg? A conversation between Lidudumalingani and Outlwile Tsipane

As part of our January Conversation Issue, guest City Editor Lidudumalingani chats to Outlwile Tsipane about the literatures of Johannesburg….

Fiction

‘I have turned my car into a mobile bookshop’—Siphiwo Mahala chats to Jennifer Malec about self-publishing his new book, Red Apple Dreams, and why short stories are the future

The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec chats to Siphiwo Mahala about his new collection of short stories, Red Apple Dreams. Mahala…