‘iCuriosity kubelungu iningi kabi’—Read an excerpt from Written Out: The Silencing of Regina Gelana Twala by Joel Cabrita
The JRB presents an excerpt from Joel Cabrita’s new book Written Out: The Silencing of Regina Gelana Twala. Written Out:…
Tag: Soweto
‘Where else is history but in the stories people tell?’ Wamuwi Mbao reviews The Inheritors by Eve Fairbanks
The Inheritors by Eve Fairbanks is historical storytelling done well, writes Wamuwi Mbao. The InheritorsEve FairbanksJonathan Ball Publishers, 2023 David…
‘I remember the day Nelson Mandela returned, exactly thirty years after his death’—Read Siyawa by Kneo Mokgopa, from Our Move Next
The JRB presents an excerpt from Our Move Next: Digital Folklore. Our Move Next: Digital FolkloreCurated by Sarah Summers and…
Those who haunt inner city Johannesburg have their own ways of being—Wamuwi Mbao reviews The Blinded City by Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon
The Blinded City by Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon is a lucidly fascinating immersion into the world of the people who occupy the…
‘He was determined to cement the Zulu language as a mighty force’—Read ‘The Last Word: Benedict Vilakazi’, excerpted from Wits University at 100
The JRB presents an excerpt from Wits University at 100: From Excavation to Innovation, a book that captures important moments…
[City Editor] ‘At first sight, Johannesburg is simultaneously welcoming and unwelcoming, familiar and unfamiliar’ by Lidudumalingani
There is something permanent about how Johannesburg reveals itself to anyone arriving in it, etching itself into the memory, even…
[City Editor] ‘At night, Jozi is dead, unless you are the killer’—11 observations about the city, by Lidudumalingani
Cities and mining Underneath Johannesburg, imagine hollow cities, stretching from Soweto all the way to Turffontein, and further. As the…
[City Editor] In communion—Lidudumalingani gives deference to the worshippers who gather in the streets, parks and open lands of Johannesburg
On Sundays, in downtown Johannesburg, on the edge of Hillbrow, encroaching into Braamfontein, queues of worshippers fill out the streets,…
Johannesburg’s Place of Good Hope—Read an excerpt from Amakomiti: Grassroots Democracy in South African Shack Settlements by Trevor Ngwane
The JRB presents an excerpt from Trevor Ngwane’s forthcoming book Amakomiti: Grassroots Democracy in South African Shack Settlements. Amakomiti: Grassroots…
[City Editor] Conjuring his images out of darkness—Lidudumalingani reflects on how the late Santu Mofokeng’s photographs are a kind of visual metaphor for Johannesburg
Johannesburg is a city that dances on the edges of elusive, and yet somehow Santu Mofokeng managed to contain it…
[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….
Tyranny of place, tyranny of time: Remembering Es’kia Mphahlele in his centenary year, by Mmatshilo Motsei
Mmatshilo Motsei pays tribute to Es’kia Mphahlele, one hundred years after his birth. I first encountered Es’kia Mphahlele when, in…
[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…
[City Editor] Niq Mhlongo’s township etiquette—an irreverent guide to Soweto, my hood
Forget about Vilakazi Street, Soweto is deeper than that. When you get off the taxi and you’re a smoker, buy…
‘Afrofuturism is not for Africans living in Africa’—an essay by Mohale Mashigo, excerpted from her new collection of short stories, Intruders
The JRB presents ‘Afrofuturism: Ayashis’ Amateki’, an essay by Mohale Mashigo, which serves as the preface to her new collection…
[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…
Unsettling old assumptions about xenophobia—Read an excerpt from I Want to Go Home Forever: Stories of Becoming and Belonging in South Africa’s Great Metropolis
The JRB presents ‘On Patrol in the Dark City’, an excerpt from I Want to Go Home Forever: Stories of Becoming and…
[Photo Editor] Gallery and video: Remembering Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, 13 and 14 April 2018
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. Don’t miss the ten-year retrospective…
‘Imagination is everything’: Paul Gilroy chats to The JRB about race, land and South Africa’s role in overthrowing the racial order
The JRB’s Academic Editor Simon van Schalkwyk spoke to UK academic, historian and philosopher Paul Gilroy, who was in Johannesburg…
[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] Kanga and Khwezi: Kwezilomso Mbandazayo challenges the memorialisation of Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo
Kwezilomso Mbandazayo, known as the womxn who loaned her name to Khwezi, Jacob Zuma’s rape accuser, offers a personal reflection…
[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…
[The JRB Daily] ‘This is unlike any other literary festival’—Sifiso Mzobe and Shubnum Khan talk writing at the Abantu Book Festival
Sifiso Mzobe and Shubnum Khan were in conversation with Sihle Mthembu at the Abantu Book Festival in Soweto last weekend….
[The JRB Daily] 2017 Abantu Book Festival focuses on legacy: Libraries, free books for children, and plans to rotate around South African cities
The second annual Abantu Book Festival kicked off in Soweto today, and festival director Thando Mgqolozana emphasised the event’s focus…
[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] 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,…
[Exclusive interview and audio] ‘White fragility ends discussions … and ends lives’: Claudia Rankine speaks in Soweto
‘In the US we have just elected a government committed to white supremacy. Tonight I wanted to talk about what…
[City Editor] Soweto’s traditional Good Friday soccer tournament: Where legends are made
The tradition of the Good Friday soccer tournament has existed for a very long time in the townships around Johannesburg,…