[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…
Category: Africa
[Temporary Sojourner] All About Eve: Efemia Chela reviews Ananda Devi’s Eve Out of Her Ruins
Efemia Chela travels to the dirty and dangerous streets of Mauritius with Ananda Devi’s Eve Out of Her Ruins in…
Read an excerpt from the first full-length biography of Christopher Okigbo, a cult hero for a new wave of young African writers
Exclusive to The JRB, an excerpt from the newly published first-ever biography of the Nigerian poet Christopher Okigbo: Christopher Okigbo 1930—67, Thirsting…
The JRB Vol. 1, Issue 7 cover image features a photograph from Johannesburg In Your Pocket
Our November issue’s cover image comes from Johannesburg In Your Pocket. The photograph features Clive van den Berg’s sculpture The Eland,…
[The JRB Daily] Durban, South Africa is one of eight new Unesco Cities of Literature
Durban, South Africa’s largest port city and hometown to dozens of noted writers—from the likes of Lewis Nkosi and Ronnie…
[The JRB Daily] South African Literary Awards shortlists announced
The 2017 South African Literary Awards shortlists have been announced, with nominees including Mohale Mashigo, Kopano Matlwa, Nthikeng Mohlele, Etienne van…
[The JRB Daily] Open call for applications for the Malba Writers Residency in Buenos Aires
Open call REM—Malba Writers Residence Annual application: From 5 October to 5 December, 2017 Residences: April-May; September-October, 2018 The Literature…
[The JRB Daily] Exclusive preview: Bongani Madondo’s interview with Mandla Langa, co-author of Nelson Mandela’s Dare Not Linger
To mark the publication of Nelson Mandela’s Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years, which goes on sale today, The JRB…
[The JRB Daily] Kazuo Ishiguro wins the Nobel Prize in Literature
English author Kazuo Ishiguro has won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The announcement was made by the Swedish Academy this…
[The JRB Daily] Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is the favourite to win the Nobel Prize in Literature—again
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is odds-on favourite to win the Nobel Prize in Literature this week. The JRB’s Editor Jennifer Malec…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 6 (October 2017)
Welcome to the sixth issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books. Half a dozen and going strong! In this edition,…
Disrupting the solipsism of the personal photograph: Wamuwi Mbao reviews Teju Cole’s new book, Blind Spot
How streaked we are by what we see: Teju Cole is at his engrossing best in his new book, Blind…
Professional writers need to be professional readers: Jennifer Malec chats to Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ about her debut novel, Stay With Me
Jennifer Malec sat down with Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ at the recent Open Book Festival in Cape Town to talk about her…
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…
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…