‘Joburg is like a jilted lover’—Niq Mhlongo talks to Jennifer Malec about his latest novel, The City is Mine
Niq Mhlongo chats to JRB Editor Jennifer Malec about his new novel, The City is Mine, and the changes he’s…
Tag: Niq Mhlongo
‘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…
‘As a woman, one has to fight’—Read an excerpt from Niq Mhlongo’s new short story collection For You, I’d Steal a Goat
The JRB presents an excerpt from ‘The In-laws’, a short story from Niq Mhlongo’s new collection, For You, I’d Steal…
[The JRB Daily] 2022 Humanities and Social Sciences Awards winners announced—‘casting a celebratory light on those whose work often goes unnoticed’
Image: The 2022 HSS Awards winners. Back, from left: Aryan Kaganof, Natalia Molebatsi, Napjadi Letsoalo, Thulasizwe Simpson, Nthikeng Mohlele, Mandla…
A much needed corrective to the literary canon’s rural bias—Timothy Wright reviews Claiming the City in South African Literature by Meg Samuelson
Timothy Wright reviews Meg Samuelson’s new book, Claiming the City in South African Literature, which argues that only through writing…
‘If you dodge your death enough times, fate stops trying to find you’—Read an excerpt from Rešoketšwe Manenzhe’s new short story ‘Ramosela’, from Hauntings
The JRB presents an excerpt from Rešoketšwe Manenzhe’s contribution to Hauntings, a forthcoming collection of stories edited by Niq Mhlongo….
[The JRB Daily] Shortlists announced for 2021 UJ Prizes for South African Writing in English
The shortlists for the University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in English have been announced. The 2021 edition…
[The JRB Daily] ‘To be truly powerful is to have your own voice and tell your own story’—Read Zukiswa Wanner’s ‘career-defining’ Time of the Writer keynote address
The author, activist, founder of Afrolit Sans Frontieres and Goethe Medal winner Zukiswa Wanner gave the keynote address at the…
[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…
[The JRB Daily] Writers condemn the lack of diversity in the 2020 Media24 Books Literary Prizes
Yesterday, the winners of this year’s annual Media24 Books Literary Prizes were announced. When The JRB published the news this…
[City Editor] Home, for me, for writers before me, for writers after me—Lidudumalingani makes a pact with post-lockdown Joburg
Melville’s legendary haunt Xai Xai is for writers part restaurant, part sanctuary, writes guest City Editor Lidudumalingani. In Kazuo Ishiguro’s…
[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….
[The JRB Daily] 2019 South African Literary Awards winners announced—The JRB collects three
The 2019 South African Literary Awards winners were announced tonight at a gala ceremony in Johannesburg, with The JRB’s nominees—Editor…
[The JRB Daily] Episode three of Read This! features Niq Mhlongo on his new book Black Tax: Burden or Ubuntu?
The Johannesburg Review of Books and Volume have launched a new books podcast called Read This!, where we share news of…
A burden, an honour, a revolutionary tactic—Read an interview with some of the contributors to Black Tax: Burden or Ubuntu, a new collection of essays edited by Niq Mhlongo
The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec interviews some of the contributors to Black Tax: Burden or Ubuntu, a new collection of essays edited…
The deferred dreams of so many people who put family commitments before their own needs—Read Niq Mhlongo’s Introduction to Black Tax: Burden or Ubuntu
Read an excerpt from Black Tax: Burden or Ubuntu, a new collection of essays edited by City Editor Niq Mhlongo….
‘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,…
[City Editor] Niq Mhlongo laments the caprice—and celebrates the excitement—of literary awards, and shares his own bittersweet experience
City Editor Niq Mhlongo, having just won his first South African prize, shares his gripes and observations on that strange…
[City Editor] The Binj outside books—Niq Mhlongo recounts adventures with his friend, Binyavanga Wainaina
Header image: Binyavanga Wainaina (second from left) and Niq Mhlongo (far left), with American author and academic Jeffery Renard Allen, Lesego…
Heat, hunger and hidden spots—Sifiso Mzobe introduces Niq Mhlongo to Durban
Sifiso Mzobe shows his fellow scribe, and JRB City Editor, Niq Mhlongo around his hometown of Durban during the Time…
[City Editor] Visa hassles and visa hustles—Niq Mhlongo compares travelling to Nigeria in 2008 and 2018
Header image (left to right): Nozizwe Cynthia Jele, Niq Mhlongo, Siyamthanda Skota, Yanele Nyamela, Phindile Mokoena, Outlwile Tsipane and Mũkoma…
[City Editor] Niq Mhlongo overstays his visa in Dar es Salaam, Morogoro and Mbeya
Two problems are gnawing at my heart as we leave Dar es Salaam to Morogoro on the Sunday afternoon of…
The parties end early but Botswana is lit—Zukiswa Wanner reports back from the Gaborone Book Festival
Two weeks before the end of our JIAS Fellowship, Niq Mhlongo and I decided that as we had been to…
[City Editor] Tanzania and my Vagabond Neurosis—Niq Mhlongo contemplates his irresistible urge to travel
About five months ago a very close friend of mine invited me to his wedding. His big day was Saturday,…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits of Mohale Mashigo and Niq Mhlongo by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. Don’t miss the ten-year retrospective…
[City Editor] The biography of a generation—Niq Mhlongo reviews Clinton Chauke’s Born in Chains: The Diary of an Angry ‘Born Free’
The JRB City Editor Niq Mhlongo reviews Clinton Chauke’s debut book, Born in Chains: The Diary of an Angry ‘Born Free’. Born…
[City Editor] Hardly working under the apricot tree in Harare: Niq Mhlongo reports back from his joint book tour with Zukiswa Wanner
The JRB City Editor Niq Mhlongo traveled to Harare recently, for two joint book launches with Zukiswa Wanner. Don’t miss…
View from the privileged heights of the JIAS Castle: Zukiswa Wanner and Niq Mhlongo reflect on their writing fellowship
The JRB City Editor Niq Mhlongo and Zukiswa Wanner have both just published new books—Soweto, Under the Apricot Tree and…
[The JRB Daily] Exclusive to The JRB: ‘I’m going to market the hell out of our stories’—Zukiswa Wanner reveals the details of her new Africa-focused publishing company, Paivapo
Zukiswa Wanner is starting her own publishing company, with a focus on marketing and selling books throughout Africa. Wanner will launch…
‘My main objective is still to help build a bigger reader base of fiction in this country and beyond’—Nozizwe Cynthia Jele chats to Jennifer Malec about her new book, The Ones with Purpose
Editorial Advisory Panel member Nozizwe Cynthia Jele chatted to The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec about her new novel, The Ones with Purpose, which…
[City Editor] Niq Mhlongo: Spinach, under my own apricot tree
Since the publication of City Editor Niq Mhlongo’s latest work of short stories, Soweto, Under the Apricot Tree, it has…
[City Editor] ‘I try to appreciate township solidarity without romanticising it’: Niq Mhlongo chats to Jennifer Malec about Soweto, Under the Apricot Tree
The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec chatted to City Editor Niq Mhlongo about the banning of Inxeba, writing to music, and his brand…
[City Editor] Read an exclusive excerpt from Niq Mhlongo’s forthcoming book: Soweto, Under the Apricot Tree
The JRB is proud to present new fiction from our City Editor, Niq Mhlongo, from his forthcoming short story collection,…
[Conversation Issue] [City Editor] Niq Mhlongo reveals how he missed his own debut book launch, leading to an astounding moment at the Abantu Book Festival twelve years later
As part of our January Conversation Issue, The JRB presents City Editor Niq Mhlongo’s keynote speech from the 2017 BRICS…
[Fiction issue] ‘Four Blocks Away’, a short story by Niq Mhlongo
The JRB presents City Editor Niq Mhlongo’s short story ‘Four Blocks Away’. The story is excerpted from Mhlongo’s most recent book,…
[City Editor] Niq Mhlongo visits the PaGya! Literary Festival, finding a very different Ghana from the one he remembers
Niq Mhlongo recounts his literary travels to Accra, Ghana—in 2008, for the Pan-African Literary Forum, and in 2017 for the…
[City Editor] Soweto, heart of the nation: Niq Mhlongo takes a tour of his home
Niq Mhlongo reveals what to see and do for the complete experience of Soweto. Of all the entrance points into Soweto,…
[City Editor] The place of the ancestors: Niq Mhlongo leaves the city to walk the hills of Mapungubwe
The JRB’s City Editor Niq Mhlongo takes some time out from sitting under his apricot tree in Soweto to visit…
[City Editor] Niq Mhlongo meets his hero James Joyce in Zurich
‘Let’s meet at 5 pm at the Big Clock.’ My host Olivier Moreillon’s words are ringing in my head as…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 3 (July 2017)
The third issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books is here, with some big reviews, in-depth interviews and quality ruminations…