New poetry by Ingrid de Kok: ‘Closed for Reasons of Joy’
The Johannesburg Review of Books is proud to present previously unpublished poetry by Ingrid de Kok. Closed for Reasons of…
Category: Africa
A stranger in ‘the Village’: Bongani Madondo remembers the magic of The Village Voice in print
When New York’s pout-fully punk weekly, The Village Voice, announced the end of its print issue last month, Gotham City…
Brilliant, hilarious, eerily contemporary: Mbali Sikakana reflects on Fran Ross’s forgotten black feminist novel Oreo
Fran Ross’s wildly funny race satire, Oreo, was originally published in 1974, and instantly forgotten. Mbali Sikakana surveys the novel’s…
A literary Sarah Baartman: Sanya Osha considers the need for intellectual decolonisation in rereading Amos Tutuola
Amos Tutuola deserves contemplation as a writer independent of the clutches of anthropology, argues Sanya Osha. How can we foster…
Making space for women in South Africa’s political memory, or, the case of the non-intersection of Pixley ka Seme and Charlotte Maxeke Streets
Recently published biographies of Pixley ka Seme and Charlotte Maxeke reveal how women’s histories become insignificant back roads in the…
[Temporary Sojourner] False memories and true love in Sierra Leone: Efemia Chela reads Aminatta Forna’s The Memory of Love
The perfect tragic vision of love and collective violence: Francophone & Contributing Editor Efemia Chela travels to Sierra Leone by reading Aminatta…
‘Page 19’: A border tale of visas and Eastern Europe by Zukiswa Wanner
Author Zukiswa Wanner recounts high jinks and high drama on her way to Lviv, Ukraine. The following is an excerpt…
[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,…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits of Rafique Gangat and Aja Monet 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…
New short fiction from Short Sharp Stories: Ntsika Gogwana’s powerful story of love and murder, ‘Home Cooked’
Exclusive to The JRB, new short fiction from Ntsika Gogwana, excerpted from Trade Secrets, the new Short Sharp Stories anthology. Gogwana’s story,…
‘The youth cannot be fooled’: Alain Mabanckou believes a Sub-Saharan African Spring is imminent
Since August, Congolese-French author Alain Mabanckou has been posting enigmatic pictures and tweeting with the hashtag #RevolutionBassinDuCongo (samples below). Known…
New Ça va, ça va le monde! radio play features The Belly of the Atlantic by Senegalese author Fatou Diome
Radio France Internationale’s series of radio plays of contemporary Francophone literature, « Ça va, ça va le monde ! »…
The JRB Vol. 1, Issue 6 cover image features a photograph from UP UP: Stories of Johannesburg’s Highrises
Main image: Mpho Mokgadi This month’s cover image comes from UP UP: Stories of Johannesburg’s Highrises. UP UP: Stories of Johannesburg’s…
Phil Bonner, 1945—2017, RIP
Phil Bonner, leading historian and Africanist scholar, passed away in Johannesburg on Sunday, 24 September, aged seventy-two. Bonner was Professor…
[The JRB Daily] JM Coetzee reads a new story, ‘The Glass Abattoir’, and announces a new book to feature Elizabeth Costello
As part of the programme for an international congress on ‘The work of John Maxwell Coetzee in Latin America’, JM…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 5 (September 2017)
The fifth issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books has arrived—possibly our best edition yet. Before we dive in, we…
‘With any luck people will be reading The Sellout fifty years from now’ – an interview with Man Booker Prize-winning author Paul Beatty
The JRB Academic Editor Simon van Schalkwyk spoke to Paul Beatty, whose novel The Sellout won the 2016 Man Booker…
[Sponsored] Defining Black Consciousness publicly for the first time: Read an excerpt from The Testimony of Steve Biko
When Steve Biko entered the courtroom in Pretoria in 1974 as a star witness in the trial of nine student…
A rollicking tale: Alex Lichtenstein reviews Charles van Onselen’s new book The Cowboy Capitalist: John Hays Hammond, the American West and the Jameson Raid
Charles van Onselen’s new book offers a gripping narrative, a witty voice dripping with matchless sarcasm, and unparalleled knowledge of…
Exclusive interview: Petina Gappah speaks about the highs and lows of her writing career, and reveals details of her next book
Petina Gappah sat down with The JRB contributor Bongani Kona. Gappah is a Zimbabwean writer with law degrees from Cambridge, Graz…
[Sponsored] Jacana Media host vital discussion on decolonising South African book editing
Sabata-Mpho Mokae, Dudu Busani-Dube, Helen Moffett, Rehana Rossouw and Malebo Sephodi recently featured on a panel discussing how to decolonise…
Two new poems by Nii Ayikwei Parkes
bottle i think of the room, the way it separated into definite things…
Ten years, thirty portraits: A Victor Dlamini retrospective
The JRB is honoured to present a selection of Victor Dlamini’s finest photographs, spanning 2007 to 2017. Publisher’s note: I…
[Sponsored] Jonathan Ball Publishers is giving away a book a day in September
For the month of September, Jonathan Ball Publishers will be giving away one book a day on Twitter. Jonathan Ball…
A guide for writing from the outside in: Sisonke Msimang on how Howard W French maps the road between the Africa of her childhood and the China of her imagination
In his three books on Africa–China relations, Howard W French’s thinking is robust—sometimes forcefully so—and yet fundamentally respectful. A…
James Baldwin in Rhodesia: Percy Zvomuya picks out a thread from the forgotten war book Black Fire!
In the late nineteen-seventies, James Baldwin encountered an ‘extraordinary and illuminating’ Rhodesian book, which influenced his thought around black rage…
Rights of Conquest, Rights of Desire: Panashe Chigumadzi considers the black female body through a return to JM Coetzee’s Disgrace
This is an an edited excerpt of a longer essay appearing in Panashe Chigumadzi’s forthcoming book, provisionally titled Beautiful Hair…
Salman Rushdie’s finest writing in many years: CA Davids reviews The Golden House
Despite a tone of hopelessness, Salman Rushdie’s latest novel The Golden House carries majesty, from its prose to its world-weary gaze….
Read an exclusive excerpt from Dikeledi, the new novel from award-winning author Achmat Dangor
Exclusive to The JRB, an excerpt from Achmat Dangor’s newly released novel, Dikeledi. Dangor, a political activist and award-winning author,…
[City Editor] The place of the ancestors: Niq Mhlongo leaves the city to walk the hills of Mapungubwe
The JRB’s City Editor Niq Mhlongo takes some time out from sitting under his apricot tree in Soweto to visit…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits of Teju Cole and Paul Beatty 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 of his…
From the fringe to the centre: Meet ‘The New French’ in the latest issue of Words Without Borders
The French-language literary tradition distinguishes between ‘French’ or ‘hexagonal’ literature, written by authors born in France (the hexagon), and ‘Francophone’…
Mauritian author Ananda Devi wins the 2017 Firecracker Award for Fiction for Eve Out of Her Ruins
Mauritian author Ananda Devi’s Eve Out of Her Ruins has been highly lauded since appearing in English, in late 2016,…
[The JRB Daily] English Academy of Southern Africa Award winners announced
The winners of the English Academy of Southern Africa Awards for writing have been announced. Geoffrey Haresnape will receive the Thomas…
[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 JRB Daily] Tribute to the extraordinary Dambudzo Marechera, thirty years after his death
18 August 2017 is the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Zimbabwean writer Dambudzo Marechera. He would have been sixty-five….
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 4 (August 2017)
The fourth issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books has arrived—and not a moment too soon, in our humble opinion….
Mak Manaka: One horny m’fcker – Bongani Madondo reviews Flowers of a Broken Smile
Take me to the memory of my grandmother’s hands I want to bathe in her voice and remember how…
A shared secondhand experience of South Africa: Mbali Sikakana reviews Zinzi Clemmons’s What We Lose
What We Lose Zinzi Clemmons Fourth Estate, 2017 Memory itself is an internal rumour —George Santayana But most of…
A love story for modern Africa: Richard Ali reviews Dance of the Jakaranda by Peter Kimani
Dance of the Jakaranda Peter Kimani Akashic Books, 2017 Two Europeans exchange confidences on a train travelling through the Great Rift…