Interviews

‘I realised a long time ago that not everyone appreciates expressive or creative honesty’—Sihle Ntuli interviews Seitlhamo Thabo Motsapi

Sihle Ntuli talks to Seitlhamo Thabo Motsapi about subverting language, the beauty of Black creativity, and his seminal poetry collection,…

International

‘The trees of the city provide a subtext for many things’—Salimah Valiani talks to Anna Stroud about her new poetry collection, IGoli/EGoli

Salimah Valiani chats to Anna Stroud about maps, trees and all the ingredients for love one can find in Johannesburg—and…

Book excerpts

‘Unlike any other South African poem I have come across’—Read Kelwyn Sole’s Introduction to Angifi Proctor Dladla’s epic poem Maxwell the Gorilla and the Archbishop of Soshanguve

The JRB presents Kelwin Sole’s Introduction to Maxwell the Gorilla and the Archbishop of Soshanguve, an epic poem by the…

Africa

[Conversation Issue] The world ends several times for Black people—A conversation with Uhuru Portia Phalafala and critical reading of her book Mine Mine Mine

Kim M Reynolds considers the historical and the personal in Uhuru Portia Phalafala’s new book Mine Mine Mine, in discussion…

Africa

An enigma called Christopher Okigbo—Sanya Osha reflects on the visionary and paradoxical poet (including an interview with his biographer Obi Nwakanma)

Once one experiences the phenomenal power of Christopher Okigbo’s poetry, it seems the reverberations persist throughout one’s creative life, writes…

Africa

‘It lent a profound sense of poetic liberation to an entire generation of poets’—Read Sanya Osha’s Foreword to the new reissue of the late Harry Garuba’s poetry collection, Shadow and Dream

The JRB presents Sanya Osha’s Foreword to the new reissue of the late Harry Garuba’s poetry collection, Shadow and Dream….

Non-fiction

‘Death walks everywhere with people’—Siphokazi Magadla reviews Mxolisi Mchunu’s Violence and Solace: The Natal Civil War in Late-Apartheid South Africa

Siphokazi Magadla reviews Violence and Solace: The Natal Civil War in Late-Apartheid South Africa by Mxolisi R Mchunu, a book…

Awards

[The JRB Daily] ‘Holy ****! Is this real?’ Winners of R3m Windham–Campbell Prizes for fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama announced

The eight winners of the 2023 Windham–Campbell Prizes have been announced. Now in its eleventh year, the Windham–Campbell Prize is one of…

Poetry

‘Unapologetic, evocative and darkly humorous’—Dimakatso Sedite reviews Bury Me Naked, the debut collection of poetry from Teamhw SbonguJesu

Teamhw SbonguJesu’s debut collection of poetry, Bury Me Naked, delivers a conscientious, humorous, much-needed lesson in a poetics of voice…