[The JRB Daily] Caine Prize reveals 2024 shortlist, and plans to ‘re-centre the announcement on the African continent’
The shortlist for the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing, awarded annually for a short story by an African writer…
Category: Ghana
A novel of many dark nights and unrelenting mishaps—Shayera Dark reviews Bisi Adjapon’s Daughter in Exile
Daughter in Exile by Bisi Adjapon is a pacy, character-driven novel that surveys the many burdens of living as an…
‘Even centuries later, I still will not know what I was thinking’—Read an excerpt from Sharon Dodua Otoo’s debut novel Ada’s Realm
The JRB presents an excerpt from Ada’s Realm, the long-awaited novel by Sharon Dodua Otoo, winner of the prestigious Ingeborg…
A decolonisation that dare not speak its name—George Hull reviews Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò’s Against Decolonisation: Taking African Agency Seriously
George Hull reviews Against Decolonisation: Taking African Agency Seriously by Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò. Against Decolonisation: Taking African Agency SeriouslyOlúfẹ́mi TáíwòHurst &…
[The JRB Daily] 2022 Caine Prize for African Writing shortlist announced—‘a staggering feast’
The shortlist for the 2022 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing, awarded annually for a short story by an African…
[The JRB Daily] Short Story Day Africa announce 12 writers selected for 2022 Inkubator project
The twelve writers selected for the first Short Story Day Africa Inkubator project have been announced. 36 Short Stories, 12…
[Photo Editor] Times Before by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. See this ten-year retrospective of his portraits. View this…
‘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…
[The JRB Daily] ‘Women’s fiction at its finest’—shortlist announced for 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction, including Ghanaian–American writer Yaa Gyasi
The shortlist for the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced—featuring six writers who have never been shortlisted for…
‘The final chapter was the most difficult’—Read an interview with Peace Adzo Medie and an excerpt from her debut novel His Only Wife
Ghanaian author Peace Adzo Medie chatted to The JRB about writing, reading and her debut novel His Only Wife. His…
[The JRB Daily] Longlist announced for 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction, including Ghanaian–American novelist Yaa Gyasi
The longlist for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced, including Ghanaian–American novelist Yaa Gyasi. Gyasi has been…
[Fiction Issue] ‘Were there places in the world where neighbours would have greeted us instead of turning away?’—Read an excerpt from Yaa Gyasi’s new novel Transcendent Kingdom
The JRB presents an excerpt from Transcendent Kingdom, the new novel by Yaa Gyasi. Transcendent KingdomYaa GyasiViking, 2020 Read the…
[Sampler issue] Read an excerpt from a new short story by Ama Ata Aidoo, from the book Between the Generations: An Anthology for Ama Ata Aidoo at 80
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from Between the Generations: An Anthology for Ama Ata Aidoo at 80. Between the…
[The JRB Daily] ‘Funny, tragic and defiant in the face of politics, bigotry and injustice’—2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlist announced
Header image: The Africa shortlist, Aba Asibon (Ghana), Innocent Chizaram Ilo (Nigeria), Caleb Ozovehe Ajinomoh (Nigeria), Alboricah Tokologo Rathupetsane (South…
‘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…
[The JRB Daily] ‘A delightfully queer treatment of everyday life’—Jarred Thompson wins 2020 Afritondo Short Story Prize for ‘Good Help is Hard to Find’
South African writer Jarred Thompson has been announced as the winner of the 2020 Afritondo Short Story Prize for his…
American Spy reimagines the American spy, bringing gender and race into the war room—Jennifer Malec reviews Lauren Wilkinson’s new Cold War thriller
The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec reviews Lauren Wilkinson’s debut novel American Spy, a thriller that exposes the human drama that plays out…
The quest to establish a world-class African philosophical tradition—Sanya Osha reviews Paulin Hountondji: African Philosophy as Critical Humanism
On Paulin Hountondji’s Universalist philosophy—Sanya Osha reviews Paulin Hountondji: African Philosophy as Critical Humanism, by Franziska Dubgen and Stefan Skupien….
[The JRB exclusive] ‘It is a loss of privacy that has the greatest ability to destroy an artist’—Esi Edugyan, excerpted from New Daughters of Africa
The JRB presents an excerpt from New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent,…
The rediscovery of the ordinary does not preclude the extraordinary—Jennifer Malec reviews Esi Edugyan’s novel Washington Black
The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec reviews Esi Edugyan’s Man Booker Prize-shortlisted novel, Washington Black. Washington Black Esi Edugyan Serpent’s Tail, 2018 Esi…
[The JRB Daily] Remembering VS Naipaul in South Africa
VS Naipaul, who died aged eighty-five on Saturday, spent some months in South Africa in 2009, researching his final book….
‘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…
[The JRB Daily] 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlist announced, including Fred Khumalo and Michelle Sacks
The shortlist has been announced for the seventh annual Commonwealth Short Story Prize. The prize is awarded annually to ‘the best…
[The JRB Daily] The Caine Prize wasn’t what I thought it would be: Efemia Chela traces the real value of big literary prizes
In a piece for the Caine Prize blog titled ‘An Unexpected Prize’, Efemia Chela describes how losing out on the…
[The JRB Daily] Six African authors up for world’s richest annual literary prize, the International Dublin Literary Award
Six African authors have made the longlist for the International Dublin Literary Award, the world’s most valuable annual literary prize for…
[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…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits of Taiye Selasi and Vangile Gantsho 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…
Two new poems by Nii Ayikwei Parkes
bottle i think of the room, the way it separated into definite things…
[The JRB Daily] JRB Contributing Editor Bongani Madondo up for Brittle Paper Literary Award
Main image: Bongani Madondo photographed by JRB Photo Editor Victor Dlamini To celebrate their seventh anniversary, Brittle Paper recently launched the…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 2 (June 2017)
The second issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books is here—replete with some of the finest writing on books and…
Rest in Power, Pa Kojo: Paying tribute to Kojo Laing
Ghanaian novelist and poet B Kojo Laing passed away on Thursday, 20 April 2017 in Ghana. The JRB gathered tributes…
New short fiction from Short Story Day Africa: ‘Things We Found North of the Sunset’ by Aba Asibon
Exclusive to The JRB, new short fiction from Aba Asibon, courtesy of Short Story Day Africa. Short Story Day Africa’s…