The JRB: five years, 50 issues, 425 contributors
‘Africa writes back.’ With these words, The Johannesburg Review of Books debuted in May 2017, announcing an ambitious programme to…
Category: Africa
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 6, Issue 2 (May 2022)
Wamuwi Mbao • CA Davids • Yewande Omotoso • Lidudumalingani • Efemia Chela • Wairimũ Mũrĩithi • Masiyaleti Mbewe •…
‘Your story told by someone else might in the end be richer’—Wamuwi Mbao reviews Culture and Liberation, the first dedicated collection of Alex La Guma’s exile writing
Culture and Liberation: Exile Writings, 1966–1985Alex La GumaEdited by Christopher J LeeSeagull Books 1966 was an interesting year. Future Trump…
‘Time moves as slowly as it likes and then faster than you can make sense of’—Wairimũ Murĩithi reviews Okwiri Oduor’s debut novel, Things They Lost
Entering a world the author has long been building, Wairimũ Murĩithi reviews Things They Lost, the debut novel from 2014…
Tales from Mombasa—Carey Baraka speaks to Khadija Abdalla Bajaber about her award-winning debut novel, The House of Rust
Carey Baraka reviews The House of Rust, the latest tale from Mombasa, land of fables, and chats to its author,…
‘My writing comes alive when I have questions, when I don’t know where I’m headed, when I’m in the dark’—Yewande Omotoso chats to Jennifer Malec about her new novel An Unusual Grief
The JRB’s Editor Jennifer Malec chats to Yewande Omotoso about questions, answers, and her new novel, An Unusual Grief. An Unusual GriefYewande OmotosoCassava,…
‘I was constantly weaving fact and fiction, and blurring truth with fable’—CA Davids chats to Efemia Chela about her new novel How to Be a Revolutionary
Contributing Editor Efemia Chela speaks to CA Davids about her new novel, How to Be a Revolutionary. How to Be a RevolutionaryCA…
‘Thank goodness, this book offers no lessons and neither soothes nor comforts’—Michael Gardiner reviews Jane Fox’s Letters to Lionel
Michael Gardiner reviews Letters to Lionel, a series of letters written to the late poet, novelist and teacher Lionel Abrahams…
Wole Soyinka vs Caroline Davis—The CIA Controversy by Adekeye Adebajo
In 2020, Caroline Davis, a British scholar, now based at England’s University College London, published the book African Literature and…
[City Editor] ‘At first sight, Johannesburg is simultaneously welcoming and unwelcoming, familiar and unfamiliar’ by Lidudumalingani
There is something permanent about how Johannesburg reveals itself to anyone arriving in it, etching itself into the memory, even…
New short fiction: ‘Home™’ by Eckard Smuts
The JRB presents a new short story by Eckard Smuts. Home™ There it was, suspended like a giant Tinkertoy assemblage in…
Four poems by Donald Parenzee
The JRB presents poetry by the late Donald Parenzee. ~~~ Lightweight poem Something of the heart’s left just here over my shoulder…
Four poems by Kelwyn Sole, from Skin Rafts
The JRB presents four poems from Kelwyn Sole’s eighth volume, Skin Rafts, which has just been published by Hands-On Books. Skin RaftsKelwyn…
Read ‘Garden Made of Water’, new short fiction by Ema Babikwa, from the forthcoming Blood Beats collection Something in the Water
The JRB presents new fiction from Ema Babikwa, from the forthcoming anthology Something in the Water: New Short Fiction from…
Celebrate lucky number issue 50 with playlist #13, compiled by Tymon Smith
The JRB presents tunes and accompanying editorial from our EAP member Tymon Smith. 13, like De La Soul’s 3, is a magic number….
‘As a woman, one has to fight’—Read an excerpt from Niq Mhlongo’s new short story collection For You, I’d Steal a Goat
The JRB presents an excerpt from ‘The In-laws’, a short story from Niq Mhlongo’s new collection, For You, I’d Steal…
‘She wonders whether the clothes of our dead look different’—Read an excerpt from Yewande Omotoso’s new novel, An Unusual Grief
The JRB presents an excerpt from An Unusual Grief, the new novel from Yewande Omotoso. An Unusual GriefYewande OmotosoCassava Republic…
‘Navigating the reality of his blackness in an oppressive state’—Read an excerpt from Can Themba: The Making and Breaking of the Intellectual Tsotsi by Siphiwo Mahala
The JRB presents an excerpt from Siphiwo Mahala’s new biography, Can Themba: The Making and Breaking of the Intellectual Tsotsi….
A man at the forefront of the fight for Black liberation—Read an excerpt from Now You Know How Mapetla Died: The Story of a Black Consciousness Martyr by Zikhona Valela
The JRB presents an excerpt from Zikhona Valela’s new book, Now You Know How Mapetla Died: The Story of a…
Donald Parenzee, 1948—2022, RIP
Donald Parenzee died on 21 April 2022 at the age of seventy-three. Mark Espin reflects on his work and life….
[Photo Editor] A Portrait of Lauren Beukes by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. See this ten-year retrospective of his portraits. The adaptation…
[The JRB Daily] 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlist announced—including writers from Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and, for the first time, Eswatini
Header image, Africa region shortlist, from top left: Ntsika Kota, Franklyn Usouwa, Dera Duru, Charlie Muhumuza and Mubanga Kalimamukwento The…
[The JRB Daily] 2022 Humanities and Social Sciences Awards winners announced—‘casting a celebratory light on those whose work often goes unnoticed’
Image: The 2022 HSS Awards winners. Back, from left: Aryan Kaganof, Natalia Molebatsi, Napjadi Letsoalo, Thulasizwe Simpson, Nthikeng Mohlele, Mandla…
[The JRB Daily] ‘You have changed my life!’ Three African writers among the winners of the 2022 Windham–Campbell Prizes
Header image: Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, Tsitsi Dangarembga and Emmanuel Iduma. The winners of the 2022 Windham–Campbell Prizes have been announced, including three…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 6, Issue 1 (February 2022)
Shayera Dark • Timothy Wright • Wamuwi Mbao • Nozuko Siyotula • Joanne Joseph • Abbey Khambule • Athambile Masola • Nkiacha…
‘No reprieve from the myriad invisible cuts inflicted by a society hostile to the colour of their skin’—Shayera Dark reviews Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström’s In Every Mirror She’s Black
Shayera Dark reviews In Every Mirror She’s Black by Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström. In Every Mirror She’s BlackLọlá Ákínmádé ÅkerströmHead of Zeus,…
A much needed corrective to the literary canon’s rural bias—Timothy Wright reviews Claiming the City in South African Literature by Meg Samuelson
Timothy Wright reviews Meg Samuelson’s new book, Claiming the City in South African Literature, which argues that only through writing…
‘You are simulating what happened to real people and that’s a searing thought’—Joanne Joseph discusses her historical novel, Children of Sugarcane
The JRB’s Editor Jennifer Malec chats to Joanne Joseph about her debut novel, Children of Sugarcane. Children of SugarcaneJoanne JosephJonathan…
The Granta emails, or How to Write About Africa revisited—notes on catalysing a moment of literary reparations, by Nkiacha Atemnkeng
I cannot count the number of times I’ve read the late Binyavanga Wainaina’s viral Granta essay, ‘How to write about…
‘They wrote to each other frequently, exchanged intellectual banter, confided in each other’—Siphiwo Mahala chats about his new play, Bloke and His American Bantu
The JRB presents an interview with Siphiwo Mahala about his new play, Bloke and His American Bantu. Bloke and His…
New flash fiction: The Burning Fruit by Abbey Khambule
The JRB presents a new short story by Abbey Khambule. The Burning Fruit The family room is wreathed in white…
‘To my mind, the family is the most important political space’—Nozuko Siyotula chats about her debut novel, Christopher
The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec talks to Nozuko Siyotula about her debut novel, Christopher. ChristopherNozuko SiyotulaJacana Media, 2021 Jennifer Malec…
New poetry by Jacques Coetzee
The JRB presents new poetry by Jacques Coetzee. ~~~ Pushing and Pulling Time Dearest, these are the days of maintenance,of keeping strict tempo….
‘A manifestation of what it means to show up for one another as Black women writers’—Read an excerpt from Makhosazana Xaba’s new collection The Art of Waiting for Tales: Found Poetry from Grace
The JRB presents an excerpt from The JRB Patron Makhosazana Xaba’s new collection of poetry, The Art of Waiting for…
Don’t mention Ukraine, a playlist compiled by Tymon Smith
The JRB presents tunes and accompanying editorial from our EAP member Tymon Smith. It is a new year and that means more issues…
Francis B Nyamnjoh and the pleasant ironies of conviviality, by Sanya Osha
For Francis on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. I met Francis B Nyamnjoh, now a world-renowned professor of social…
‘The village is cursed. Don’t ever come back here.’—Read an excerpt from Véronique Tadjo’s In the Company of Men
The JRB presents an excerpt from In the Company of Men by Véronique Tadjo, out now in a new edition….
[Photo Editor] A Portrait of NoViolet Bulawayo by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. See this ten-year retrospective of his portraits. View this…
Three poems by Athambile Masola, from Ilifa
The JRB presents an excerpt from Ilifa, Athambile Masola’s new isiXhosa collection of poetry. IlifaAthambile MasolauHlanga Press, 2021 Isifebe NgeCawa…
‘Mama never told me she loved me. Mama couldn’t even say happy birthday to me’—Read an excerpt from Lebo Mazibuko’s debut novel, Bantu Knots
The JRB presents an excerpt from Bantu Knots, the debut novel from Lebo Mazibuko. Lebo MazibukoBantu KnotsKwela Books, 2021 Read…