Mais non, Monsieur le Président! Alain Mabanckou and Véronique Tadjo take on Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron has made his support of the French language, Francophonie and the French-speaking world (especially the African…
French President Emmanuel Macron has made his support of the French language, Francophonie and the French-speaking world (especially the African…
Words without Borders’s issue dedicated to Tunisian women writers got lost in the flurry of the end of 2017, with…
The JRB presents an excerpt from Ramaphosa: The Man Who Would Be King by Ray Hartley. Ramaphosa: The Man Who…
Image: A scene from ‘Inxeba’. Supplied Wamuwi Mbao, Stellenbosch University Why has a film that holds important lessons for South Africans…
The Caine Prize for African Writing has announced that director Lizzy Attree is leaving the organisation. Attree has served as director…
The Africa Centre has announced the shortlists for the 2017 Artists In Residency programmes, including The JRB Contributing Editor Efemia Chela. The…
Welcome to the second issue of Volume 2 of The Johannesburg Review of Books. This month, we are excited and…
The JRB is proud to present new fiction from our City Editor, Niq Mhlongo, from his forthcoming short story collection,…
Efemia Chela travels to Guinea-Bissau with Abdulai Silá’s The Ultimate Tragedy in The JRB’s Temporary Sojourner series. The Ultimate Tragedy (A Última Tragédia)…
An exhibition of JM Coetzee’s newly discovered childhood photography was recently held in Cape Town. Wamuwi Mbao was there. With…
Rehana Rossouw’s critically acclaimed debut novel, What Will People Say?, was shortlisted for the 2015 Etisalat Prize for Literature, and won…
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. Don’t miss the ten-year retrospective…
Read an excerpt from Marcus Low’s debut novel Asylum—an existential thriller set in a quarantine facility in the arid Karoo—which…
The JRB presents a new short story by Stacy Hardy. The day the white people walked into the sea As…
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents three poems by Shailja Patel. Syllabus Note O leftist men who heart critiques of Hillary and…
Wamuwi Mbao reviews The Magic Lamp, a new collection of meditations and stories by Ben Okri, illustrated by Rosemary Clunie. The…
Fear of a black planet, rather than ‘economic anxiety’, gnaws at the West’s hallowed liberal democratic principles, writes Lebohang Mojapelo….
Ta-Nehisi Coates is not the voice of black people—and, crucially, neither does he aspire to be, writes Kibo Ngowi. We…
Two men are talking in a smoke-filled room. On the carved table in the middle of the sitting room is…
« Et ta bouche est une syllabe mûre que seule l’empreinte des mots d’amour » Whether you have a valentine…
Sarah Ruden responds to David van Schoor’s letter, published in our January issue, addressing Ruden’s response to Van Schuur’s review…
The shortlist for the 2018 9mobile Prize for Literature (formerly the Etisalat Prize for Literature) has been announced. The award…
Hugh Ramapolo Masekela died in Johannesburg today, at the age of seventy-eight, after a long battle with prostate cancer. The…
Hugh Ramapolo Masekela, one of South Africa’s most celebrated and pioneering musicians, has died in Johannesburg. Masekela had been fighting…
As part of our January Conversation Issue, The JRB published an essay titled ‘Kanga and Khwezi: Kwezilomso Mbandazayo challenges the…
Welcome to the first issue of Volume 2 of The Johannesburg Review of Books. This month we said goodbye to Keorapetse…
As part of our January Conversation Issue, Ben Williams talks to Jonathan Franzen. Purity Jonathan Franzen Fourth Estate, 2016 American…
As part of our January Conversation Issue, Bongani Kona interviews award-winning Congolese author Fiston Mwanza Mujila. Tram 83 Fiston Mwanza…
Kwezilomso Mbandazayo, known as the womxn who loaned her name to Khwezi, Jacob Zuma’s rape accuser, offers a personal reflection…
As part of our January Conversation Issue, Mohale Mashigo chats to The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec. The Yearning Mohale Mashigo…
As part of our January Conversation Issue, Mbali Sikakana interviews award-winning author Songeziwe Mahlangu. Penumbra Songeziwe Mahlangu Kwela Books, 2013…
As part of our January Conversation Issue, Wamuwi Mbao chats to Chibundu Onuzo. Welcome to Lagos Chibundu Onuzo Faber and…
As part of our January Conversation Issue, Anietie Isong chats to Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike about his debut novel Radio Sunrise,…
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents two poems by Angifi Dladla. PHRRR You flew away, never bothered; I dove and…
As part of our January Conversation Issue, we present new found poetry by The JRB Patron Makhosazana Xaba, a creative…
As part of our January Conversation Issue, The JRB presents City Editor Niq Mhlongo’s keynote speech from the 2017 BRICS…
The JRB presents new fiction from novelist and memoirist Fred Khumalo. This a first for both The JRB and Khumalo:…
The JRB presents Victor Dlamini’s literary portraits of Keorapetse ‘Bra Willie’ Kgositsile. South Africa’s National Poet Laureate, Keorapetse Kgositsile, passed…
Elinor Sisulu shared this tribute to South Africa’s Poet Laureate Keorapetse ‘Bra Willie’ Kgositsile, who died on the third of…
The JRB Photo Editor Victor Dlamini interviewed South African Poet Laureate Keorapetse ‘Bra Willie’ Kgositsile back in 2008. Listen to the…