[The JRB Daily] Sudanese writer Bushra al-Fadil wins the 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing
Sudanese writer Bushra al-Fadil has won the 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing for his story ‘The Story of the…
Category: Africa
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 3 (July 2017)
The third issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books is here, with some big reviews, in-depth interviews and quality ruminations…
[Exclusive interview and audio] ‘White fragility ends discussions … and ends lives’: Claudia Rankine speaks in Soweto
‘In the US we have just elected a government committed to white supremacy. Tonight I wanted to talk about what…
‘It began with a burial site’: Nadia Davids on her new work, What Remains, a play about slavery and the haunted city
All that is buried is not dead. —Olive Schreiner, The Story of an African Farm Ant swarming City City full…
[Sponsored] The White Road – the hotly anticipated new book from Sarah Lotz – is out in June
The White Road, the chilling new thriller by Sarah Lotz, is out in June locally from Jonathan Ball Publishers. The…
[Sponsored] Win a copy of The Man Who Founded the ANC: A biography of Pixley ka Isaka Seme
The Reading List and Penguin Random House South Africa have got three copies of The Man Who Founded the ANC:…
A steady vigil over the slow death of the anti-apartheid dream: Rustum Kozain reviews Kelwyn Sole’s latest poetry collection, Walking, Falling
Kelwyn Sole Walking, Falling Deep South, 2017 Read: Four Poems by Kelwyn Sole Walking, Falling extends Kelwyn Sole’s…
Four Poems by Kelwyn Sole
Kelwyn Sole Walking, Falling Deep South Publishers, 2017 Read Rustum Kozain’s review of this collection: A steady…
New short fiction: ‘Love Back’ by Julie Nxadi
The JRB presents new short fiction by Julie Nxadi. Love Back Kwathi kaloku ngantsomi, there were clouds too lazy to…
[City Editor] Niq Mhlongo meets Shaka Zulu at a restaurant in Cologne, Germany
Having been here for three weeks now, I think it should be considered an act of blasphemy to describe or…
The JRB exclusive: Karel Schoeman’s final pilgrimage, detailed in a guesthouse visitors’ book
Before he took his life on the first of May this year, author Karel Schoeman made a final pilgrimage to…
‘Three great hopes for a post-apartheid culture, gone too soon’—Hedley Twidle reflects on Phaswane Mpe, Moses Taiwa Molelekwa and K Sello Duiker
Firepool: Experiences in an Abnormal World Hedley Twidle Kwela, 2017 The following is an excerpt from Firepool: Experiences in an…
‘A dazzling new voice’: Olufunke Ogundimu reviews Lesley Nneka Arimah’s What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky
What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky Lesley Nneka Arimah Riverhead Books, 2017 Lesley Nneka Arimah’s debut collection of short stories,…
Eking out a deeper truth on the rough seas of historical fiction: Wamuwi Mbao reviews Fred Khumalo’s Dancing the Death Drill
Dancing the Death Drill Fred Khumalo Umuzi, 2017 The historical novel presents rough seas for a writer. Attaching a novel…
‘I appreciate stories that mess with me a little’: Yewande Omotoso on her latest book, The Woman Next Door
The Woman Next Door Yewande Omotoso Chatto & Windus, 2017 Yewande Omotoso spoke to Johannesburg Review of Books editor Jennifer…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits by Victor Dlamini: Zakes Mda; and Zakes Mda with Mandla Langa
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. ~~~ Zakes Mda and Mandla…
‘Les chaussures’: Short fiction by Edwige-Renée Dro from new translation experiment La Shamba
La Shamba is a newly launched South to South writing collaboration project bringing a diversity of language and viewpoints to…
Finding beauty under apartheid: Interview with Dan Magaziner, and excerpt from his book The Art of Life in South Africa
The Art of Life in South Africa Dan Magaziner UKZN Press, 2017 Main image: Ndaleni group shot, late 1970s, Ndaleni…
Keep on Swinging: Fiston Mwanza Mujila’s Tram 83 wins the German International Literature Award
Fiston Mwanza Mujila has been awarded the The German International Literature Award for the German translation of his novel, Tram 83. Since…
Video: Watch a clip from Siphiwo Mahala’s The House of Truth starring Sello Maake kaNcube
The Johannesburg Review of Books brings you a clip of Siphiwo Mahala’s acclaimed play on the life of Can Themba,…
Writes of passage, an urban memoir: How a Pan-African journal and American glossies put Bongani Madondo on the Write Path
Sigh the Beloved Country: Braai Talk, Rock ‘n’ Roll & Other Stories Bongani Madondo Picador Africa, 2016 Load up on…
[The JRB Daily] Fiction is essential in a corrupt society—Read Zakes Mda’s Sunday Times Literary Awards keynote address
Zakes Mda was the keynote speaker at the Sunday Times Literary Awards last night. Mda won the Barry Ronge Fiction…
[The JRB Daily] Zakes Mda and Greg Marinovich win Sunday Times Literary Awards
Zakes Mda and Greg Marinovich were announced as the winners of the 2017 Sunday Times Literary Awards last night. The awards…
[The JRB Daily] Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa wins €100,000 International Dublin Literary Award
Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa has won the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award for his novel A General Theory of…
[The JRB Daily] UJ Prize shortlists announced: Fiction, poetry, short stories, essays and biography feature
The shortlists for the 2016 University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in English have been announced, with works…
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…
Step on the Bassline: Bongani Madondo unlocks a torrent of Joburg memories
I don’t believe any biographer can be objective. —Mark Gevisser … I saw a sign over a door in café…
‘I want my legs back’: A personal history of catastrophe by para-athlete Palesa ‘Deejay’ Manaleng
The JRB brings you an exclusive excerpt from a work in progress by Deejay Manaleng, which tells the story of…
[Sponsored] Infidelity among MK comrades: An excerpt from Achmat Dangor’s Bitter Fruit, republished this month
A new edition of Achmat Dangor’s acclaimed novel Bitter Fruit is out soon from Picador Africa, ahead of the publication…
[Sponsored] Karina M Szczurek on life with Andre Brink and her new memoir, The Fifth Mrs Brink (including podcast)
Ingrid Winterbach spoke to Karina M Szczurek at the Woordfees literary festival recently about her life with one of South…
Caught in the surreal postcolonial swirl: Wamuwi Mbao reviews Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou
Black Moses Alain Mabanckou Serpent’s Tail 2017 (Man Booker International Prize finalist) A young man visits a doctor in the…
‘Writing is sometimes like a thread that weaves all our hearts into one’: Lidudumalingani reflects on his Caine Prize visit to the United States
Lidudumalingani won the 2016 Caine Prize for African Writing for his short story ‘Memories We Lost’. As part of the…
English here is the foreign language: A conversation with Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, author of Season of Crimson Blossoms
Season of Crimson Blossoms Abubakar Adam Ibrahim Cassava Republic Press/Pan Macmillan South Africa 2016 Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, winner of the…
We are not dogs! We must get organised: Percy Zvomuya reviews The Beggars’ Strike by Aminata Sow Fall
Percy Zvomuya reviews The Beggars’ Strike, by Senegalese author Aminata Sow Fall, first published in English in 1981. The Beggars’…
Two poems by Rethabile Masilo
Flesh and blood One is very crazy when one is in love —Sigmund Freud Tiananmen. A monk’s body burns—his tunic…
[City Editor] A miracle under the apricot tree in Chi Town: How a writer came to name Maboneng
One morning at the beginning of February 2009 I was approached by Indra Wussow, founder and curator of The Sylt…
[Temporary Sojourner] How little has changed in thirty-nine years: Efemia Chela reads Dambudzo Marechera’s The House of Hunger
The House of Hunger Dambudzo Marechera First published Pantheon Books 1978; this edition Heinemann African Writers Series 2009 We knew…
New short fiction from Queer Africa 2: ‘Nine Pieces of Desire’ by Idza L
Exclusive to The JRB, new short fiction by Kenyan writer Idza L excerpted from Queer Africa 2, courtesy of MaThoko’s Books,…
[Photo Editor] Two original portraits by Victor Dlamini: Palesa Morudu and Lindiwe Hani
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. ~~~ Lindiwe Hani, photographed by…
New release: Another Morocco by Abdellah Taia
English readers interested in Abdellah Taïa’s work are in luck. Taïa, the first openly gay Moroccan author to be published…