The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 2, Issue 4 (April 2018)
Welcome to the fourth issue of Volume 2 of The Johannesburg Review of Books. In our April 2018 edition, we’re…
Category: Africa
‘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…
‘English’s tendency to obliterate other languages does not apply here’—Bwesigye bwa Mwesigire reviews Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s Kintu
Bwesigye bwa Mwesigire reviews Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s Kintu, which was recently awarded a prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize for Fiction. Kintu Jennifer…
‘The argument between Beauty and, perhaps, War’: William Kentridge and Denis Hirson in conversation in Johannesburg
Artist William Kentridge and author Denis Hirson appeared in a public conversation at the Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, in February, to…
‘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…
The hidden history of an ordinary umZulu woman who asserted her freedom—Makhosazana Xaba reviews Nomavenda Mathiane’s Eyes in the Night: An Untold Zulu Story
Nomavenda Mathiane’s Eyes in the Night: An Untold Zulu Story illuminates the times, spaces and voices in-between, writes The JRB…
Africanism and Afrofuturism: Imraan Coovadia considers Blackness, Black Panther and Achille Mbembe’s Critique of Black Reason
Achille Mbembe’s vision is a guide to the revolution that stands on the other side of revolution, writes Imraan Coovadia. Critique…
[Audio] It’s a writer’s life: That hilarious time Zukiswa Wanner encountered her own book in a Joburg taxi
Zukiswa Wanner launched her latest book, Hardly Working: A Travel Memoir of Sorts, in Johannesburg at African Flavour Books recently, in…
Two new poems by Sarah Johnson
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents previously unpublished poetry by Sarah Johnson. Sixth sense Over a decade, your nerves…
[Photo Editor] Two original portraits of Natalia Molebatsi by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. He made these portraits of…
Home is better than this place: Read an exclusive excerpt from Nozizwe Cynthia Jele’s forthcoming novel, The Ones with Purpose
Nozizwe Cynthia Jele’s new novel, The Ones with Purpose, will be out on 20 April, 2018. The Ones with Purpose Nozizwe…
The JRB Exclusive: Read an excerpt from An Eternity in Tangiers, a graphic novel that evokes the mental and physical limbo of migrancy, by Faustin Titi and Eyoum Nganguè
The JRB is proud to present an exclusive excerpt from the graphic novel An Eternity in Tangiers, by Ivorian illustrator…
Un si beau diplôme !—Rwandese author and genocide survivor Scholastique Mukasonga chronicles her quest for an education in new book
Comment sauver son enfant d’une mort certaine ? Faut-il, comme le croit le père de l’auteur, faire confiance à l’école…
[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…
Letter: Christine Chiosi on the ‘discomfort’ and ‘estrangement’ of Wamuwi Mbao’s report from an exhibition of JM Coetzee’s boyhood photographs
This is an edited version of a letter The JRB received, from Christine Chiosi, in response to the essay by…
[The JRB Daily] 2018 Alan Paton Award for Non-fiction longlist announced
The 2018 Sunday Times Literary Awards longlists have been announced! The awards celebrate ‘the best of South African non-fiction and…
[The JRB Daily] 2018 Barry Ronge Fiction Prize longlist announced
The 2018 Sunday Times Literary Awards longlists have been announced! The awards celebrate ‘the best of South African non-fiction and…
‘I am me; I am black; I must be proud of my blackness.’—Read an excerpt from Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s memoir, 491 Days: Prisoner Number 1323/69
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has died in Johannesburg at the age of eighty-one. Read an excerpt from her prison journal, published in 2013,…
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, 1936–2018, RIP
Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela-Mandela, the iconic, controversial South African activist known as ‘the Mother of the Nation’ and, more simply, as…
[The JRB Daily] Former Caine Prize director Lizzy Attree joins Short Story Day Africa
Lizzy Attree has joined the board of Short Story Day Africa. Attree stepped down as the director of the Caine Prize for…
[The JRB Daily] Queer Africa 2, edited by Makhosazana Xaba and Karen Martin, announced as a 2018 Lambda Literary Awards finalist
Queer Africa 2: New Stories, a short story collection edited by The JRB Patron Makhosazana Xaba and Karen Martin, has…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 2, Issue 3 (March 2018)
Welcome to the third issue of Volume 2 of The Johannesburg Review of Books. In our March 2018 edition, hot…
‘In looking behind us the way forward may become clear’—Perfect Hlongwane reviews The Land Is Ours by Tembeka Ngcukaitobi
The Land is Ours is Tembeka Ngcukaitobi’s first book, and it must not be his last, writes Perfect Hlongwane. The…
‘What does the K in your name stand for?’ Read an excerpt from Nthikeng Mohlele’s new novel, Michael K
The JRB is proud to present an exclusive excerpt from Nthikeng Mohlele’s new novel, Michael K. Michael K Nthikeng Mohlele Picador…
[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…
New short fiction: ‘Intimates’ by Mbali Sikakana
The JRB presents a new short story by Mbali Sikakana. Intimates One day she takes a plane to a small…
A real-life Yemeni-American hero: Imraan Coovadia reviews Dave Eggers’s new book, The Monk of Mokha
The Monk of Mokha’s easygoing optimism glides over the prejudices and hatred that underdog minorities face in the United States,…
[Temporary Sojourner] Efemia Chela reads José Eduardo Agualusa’s Angolan War thought experiment, A General Theory of Oblivion
Luanda’s Shrödinger’s Woman: Efemia Chela travels to Angola with José Eduardo Agualusa’s A General Theory of Oblivion, which was shortlisted for…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits of Perfect Hlongwane and Yewande Omotoso 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…
‘How does one take part in a national dialogue when your voice carries this baggage?’ Antjie Krog interviews award-winning poet Karin Schimke
‘I cannot un-white my voice, nor can I stop writing.’ Poet, academic and author Antjie Krog interviews Karin Schimke about…
‘Spending time with Bra Willie is the closest thing to being in touch with the soul of this country’: Read Mandla Langa’s Introduction to Keorapetse Kgositsile’s Homesoil in My Blood
Homesoil in My Blood: A Trilogy Keorapetse Kgositsile Xarra Books, 2018 Exclusive to The JRB, we present author Mandla Langa’s…
‘Writing allowed me to honour the connections between life and death’—Philippa Namutebi Kabali-Kagwa talks to Tiah Beautement about her memoir, Flame and Song
Tiah Beautement chats to Philippa Namutebi Kabali-Kagwa about her poetry and prose memoir, Flame and Song, which traverses Uganda, Addis…
The PEN International Women’s Manifesto: ‘The act of silencing a person is to deny their existence. It is a kind of death’
Margie Orford, President Emerita of PEN South Africa and board member of PEN International, on the PEN International Women’s Manifesto,…
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…
Skin and the Arab Spring: Read an excerpt from Tunisian author Azza Filali’s Les Intranquilles
Words without Borders’s issue dedicated to Tunisian women writers got lost in the flurry of the end of 2017, with…
Is Cyril Ramaphosa the man to lead South Africa out of its political and economic crisis? Read an excerpt from Ramaphosa: The Man Who Would Be King by Ray Hartley
The JRB presents an excerpt from Ramaphosa: The Man Who Would Be King by Ray Hartley. Ramaphosa: The Man Who…
[The JRB Daily] Wamuwi Mbao: No, the award-winning film Inxeba isn’t a disrespectful gay sex romp
Image: A scene from ‘Inxeba’. Supplied Wamuwi Mbao, Stellenbosch University Why has a film that holds important lessons for South Africans…
[The JRB Daily] Caine Prize for African Writing director Lizzy Attree stands down
The Caine Prize for African Writing has announced that director Lizzy Attree is leaving the organisation. Attree has served as director…
[The JRB Daily] 2017 Africa Centre Artists In Residency shortlists announced
The Africa Centre has announced the shortlists for the 2017 Artists In Residency programmes, including The JRB Contributing Editor Efemia Chela. The…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 2, Issue 2 (February 2018)
Welcome to the second issue of Volume 2 of The Johannesburg Review of Books. This month, we are excited and…