The JRB Fiction Issue! (Vol. 9, Issue 3, December 2025)
Wamuwi Mbao • Makhosazana Xaba • Simon van Schalkwyk • Khadija Tracey Heeger • Sean Jacobs • Barbara Boswell •…
Category: South Africa
‘A reluctant, complicated love story spanning the globe and a myriad natural disasters’—Barbara Boswell reviews Ice Shock by Elleke Boehmer
Barbara Boswell reviews Elleke Boehmer’s Ice Shock, a novel saturated with extremes of love and increasingly calamitous climate events. Ice…
‘Always in search of uncompromising honesty in a compromised and compromising world’—Kevin Goddard reviews Kelwyn Sole’s latest collection of poetry, What is Owed?
Kevin Goddard reviews What is Owed? by Kelwyn Sole—a poet’s summing up of a life dedicated both to verse and…
Can we engage with power without being corrupted by it? Sean Jacobs reviews Mahmood Mamdani’s new book, Slow Poison: Idi Amin, Yoweri Museveni, and the Making of the Ugandan State
Sean Jacobs reviews Slow Poison by Mahmood Mamdani, a rich and textured account of Ugandan and postcolonial African politics, and…
‘Performing poetry is a naked affair, but I’d rather be naked than take up residence behind a mask’—Khadija Tracey Heeger in conversation with Makhosazana Xaba
This is the tenth in a series of long-form interviews by Patron Makhosazana Xaba to be hosted on The JRB,…
‘What happens when one person’s truth is another’s blank stare?’—Muthi Nhlema chats to Ivor W Hartmann about his ZamaShort short story ‘Piss Corpse’
Muthi Nhlema and Ivor W Hartmann discuss trust, inspiration, writer’s block, and Nhlema’s latest work ‘Piss Corpse’, which was selected…
She could translate lived experience into art and return it with dignity—Sean Jacobs on Zöe Wicomb
Sean Jacobs honours the late Zöe Wicomb (1948—2025). Zöe Wicomb was a significant influence on me, a presence in my…
Poetic translation and transnational Cold War cultural exchange—read an excerpt from Simon van Schalkwyk’s new book Robert Lowell’s Imitations and the Cold War
The JRB presents an excerpt from Robert Lowell’s Imitations and the Cold War: Containment, Leakage, Anarchy, the new book by…
‘His father was also a traveller, indeed a determined one’—Read an excerpt from Khumisho Moguerane’s Sunday Times Literary Award-winning biography Morafe
The JRB presents an excerpt from Morafe: Person, Family and Nation in Colonial Bechuanaland, 1880s–1950s by Khumisho Moguerane, winner of…
[Photo Editor] A portrait of Chika Unigwe 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…
Goodbye and good riddance—A playlist compiled by Tymon Smith
Ah, 2025—the Year of the Cassowary—a hideous, deadly, reprehensibly indifferent shit-show intent on ripping your guts out or chasing you…
New poetry by Sandile Ngidi
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents previously unpublished poetry by Sandile Ngidi. ~~~ Let someone hold saliva, go slow on broken souls Three…
Poetry by Dawn Garisch, from The Consulting Room
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Consulting Room by Dawn Garisch. The Consulting Room Dawn GarischKaravan Press, 2025 ~~~…
Poetry by Deborah Seddon, from Magnitude
The JRB presents an excerpt from Magnitude by Deborah Seddon. MagnitudeDeborah SeddonDryad Press, 2025 ~~~ Visitations Sliding for cover right…
[New short fiction] Double Flash by Mehita Iqani
The JRB presents new short fiction by Mehita Iqani. Double Flash Professor Fisher stands at the tea station, stirring his…
[New short fiction] The Fog by Eckard Smuts
The JRB presents new short fiction by Eckard Smuts. The Fog ‘Been gone, but now I’m way gone.’—Kurt Vile Fingers…
[New short fiction] Perdjie by Duane Jethro
The JRB presents new short fiction by Duane Jethro. Perdjie He had not expected the traffic official to grant the…
[New short fiction] Runs in the Family by Wamuwi Mbao
The JRB presents new short fiction by Wamuwi Mbao. Runs in the Family Things started to go wrong the summer…
[New flash fiction] New Year’s Eve by Abbey Khambule
The JRB presents new flash fiction by Abbey Khambule. ~~~ New Year’s Eve Up in Moulin Rouge, Joel tucks a…
‘Keep the mzungu out of trouble’—Read an excerpt from ‘Piss Corpse’ by Muthi Nhlema, the debut publication from ZamaShort
The JRB presents an excerpt from Muthi Nhlema’s ‘Piss Corpse’, the debut short story of the ZamaShort imprint series of…
‘I sliced his neck open early on Christmas morning’—Read an excerpt from Kopano Matlwa’s new novel Bosadi
The JRB presents an excerpt from Bosadi, the new novel by Kopano Matlwa. BosadiKopano MatlwaJacana Media, 2025 Naledi I killed…
Read ‘The Nazi Insurgence Reaches Blairgowrie’, from Lone Wolf Living, the debut short story collection by Werner Pretorius
The JRB presents an excerpt from Werner Pretorius’s debut collection of short fiction, Lone Wolf Living. Lone Wolf Living Werner…
Read ‘Mr Duiker Sang the Blues’ by Dyondzo Kwinika, winner of the inaugural DALRO Can Themba Short Story Award
The JRB presents Dyondzo Kwinika’s DALRO Can Themba Merit Award-winning short story, excerpted from When Water Wants To. When Water…
‘Little by little, he makes out the forms of things’—Read an excerpt from Wilderness of Mirrors, the debut novel by Caine Prize-winning writer Olufemi Terry
The JRB presents an excerpt from Olufemi Terry’s debut novel, Wilderness of Mirrors. Wilderness of MirrorsOlufemi TerryLes Fugitives (UK), March…
‘Violence would be part of Johannesburg’s lingua franca from the outset’—Read an excerpt from Deborah Posel’s personal journey through forgotten history, Darker Shade of Pale
The JRB presents an excerpt from Darker Shade of Pale: Shtetl to Colony by Deborah Posel. Darker Shade of Pale:…
Zoë Wicomb, 1948—2025, RIP
Zoë Wicomb, the pioneering South African author and academic, has died in her home of Glasgow, Scotland. She was 77…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 9, Issue 2 (August 2025)
Zanta Nkumane • Shayera Dark • Wamuwi Mbao • Karen Jennings • Makhosazana Xaba • Thabile Makue • Rustum Kozain…
‘A superb, cleansing ending’—Wamuwi Mbao reviews Antjie Krog’s autobiographical novel Blood’s Inner Rhyme
Wamuwi Mbao reviews Blood’s Inner Rhyme by Antjie Krog, a book preoccupied with a lifelong, struggling conversation between a mother…
‘Without the right words, one has failed, which is a devastating feeling’—Jennifer Malec chats to Karen Jennings about her latest novel, Crooked Seeds
The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec chats to Karen Jennings about her new novel, Crooked Seeds, and making your reader’s skin crawl….
‘English is a language I acquired. To make it mine, I had to collapse its rules’—Thabile Makue in conversation with Makhosazana Xaba
This is the ninth in a series of long-form interviews by Patron Makhosazana Xaba to be hosted on The JRB,…
New poetry by Rustum Kozain
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents previously unpublished poetry by Rustum Kozain. ~~~ The greatest love I believe the children are our future,…
[Photo Editor] A portrait of Myesha Jenkins 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…
The world still turns, the head still spins—A playlist compiled by Tymon Smith
After a brief hiatus—spent mostly just keeping on keeping on—Radio JRB returns for this 25th broadcast. The world still turns,…
‘An attempt to win back knowledge, even wisdom, from a world deluged by information’—Read an excerpt from The Interpreters: South Africa’s New Nonfiction
The JRB presents editor Hedley Twidle’s Introduction to The Interpreters: South Africa’s New Nonfiction. The Interpreters: South Africa’s New NonfictionEdited…
New poetry by Sarah Uheida, from Not This Tender
The JRB presents an excerpt from Not This Tender, a new poetry collection by Sarah Uheida. Sarah UheidaNot This TenderDryad…
‘This was the last thing she needed, and yet …’—Read an excerpt from Elleke Boehmer’s new novel, Ice Shock
The JRB presents an excerpt from Ice Shock, the new novel by Elleke Boehmer. Ice ShockElleke BoehmerKaravan Press, 2025 HERE 2010–2011…
‘My ultimate overpacked beach bite has to be a pilchard sandwich’—Read an excerpt from Pravasan Pillay’s offbeat new food memoir Curry and Bread
The JRB presents an excerpt from Curry and Bread, Pravasan Pillay’s new memoir. Curry and BreadPravasan PillayDye Hard Press, 2025…
‘They built a roaring, roistering town, and called it Johannesburg’—Read ‘The City of Gold’, from The Early Writings of Alex La Guma
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Early Writings of Alex La Guma: Reflections on Cultcha, Identity and Freedom in…
Men’s livelihoods are only one aspect of what it means to make a life—Read an excerpt from Making a Life: Young Men on Johannesburg’s Urban Margins
The JRB presents an excerpt from Making a Life: Young Men on Johannesburg’s Urban Margins by Hannah J Dawson. Making…
Does South Africa have a problem with occult crime? Read an excerpt from The Devil Made Me Do It by Nicky Falkof
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Devil Made Me Do It: Understanding Occult Crime in South Africa by Nicky…