Gus Ferguson, 1940—2020, RIP
The publisher, poet, cartoonist and humourist Gus Ferguson has died in Cape Town. Born in 1940 in Scotland, Ferguson moved…
Category: South Africa
[The JRB Daily] Top 10 of 2020—a look back at our most popular articles of the year
This December marked the The JRB’s forty-second issue, the final issue of our fourth volume. With the new year just…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 4, Issue 10 (December 2020, The Fiction Issue)
Keletso Mopai • Byron Loker • Wamuwi Mbao • Sebastian Murdoch • Jarred Thompson • Richard de Nooy • Khaddafina…
[Fiction Issue] ‘Six Girls’, a new short story by Keletso Mopai
The JRB presents a new short story by Keletso Mopai. Six Girls I In 2004, we hugged our daughters and…
[Fiction Issue] ‘Koe(k)sisters’, a new short story by Jarred Thompson
The JRB presents a new short story by Jarred Thompson. Koe(k)sisters after Caroline Peters These days Oupa Ice-cream’s bell rings all…
[Fiction Issue] ‘Cobbled Together—A Lockdown Story’, new writing by Byron Loker
The JRB presents a new short story by Byron Loker. Cobbled Together: A Lockdown Story I live now on a…
[Fiction Issue] ‘In Search of an Exit’, an excerpt from a work-in-progress by Wamuwi Mbao
The JRB presents an excerpt from a work-in-progress by Wamuwi Mbao. In Search of an Exit It was a thoughtful…
[Fiction Issue] ‘Five Parables About My Personality’ by Richard de Nooy
The JRB presents new fiction by Richard de Nooy. Five Parables About My Personality 1. CuriousI steer my school bus…
[Fiction Issue] ‘Were there places in the world where neighbours would have greeted us instead of turning away?’—Read an excerpt from Yaa Gyasi’s new novel Transcendent Kingdom
The JRB presents an excerpt from Transcendent Kingdom, the new novel by Yaa Gyasi. Transcendent KingdomYaa GyasiViking, 2020 Read the…
[Fiction Issue] ‘i feel like my heritage is obstinate’—Read an excerpt from Masande Ntshanga’s new book, Native Life in the Third Millennium
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from Native Life in the Third Millennium, a limited edition poetry and short story…
[Fiction Issue] ‘This is my house! I just paid the money. I showed you the receipt.’—Read an excerpt from TJ Benson’s highly anticipated debut novel, The Madhouse
The JRB presents an excerpt from TJ Benson’s forthcoming debut novel, The Madhouse. The Madhouse TJ BensonPenguin Random House South…
[Fiction Issue] ‘Yho mme we! What am I going to do with you two? You look like a farmer going to his first business meeting.’—Read an excerpt from Angela Makholwa’s Critical But, Stable
The JRB presents an excerpt from Critical But, Stable, the new novel from Angela Makholwa. Critical But, StableAngela MakholwaPan Macmillan…
[Fiction Issue] ‘Oyinbo pepper, leave the Bush of Ghosts! Muzungu, go back to England!’—Read an excerpt from The Trial of Cecil John Rhodes by Adekeye Adebajo
The JRB presents an excerpt from Adekeye Adebajo’s forthcoming novella, The Trial of Cecil John Rhodes. The Trial of Cecil…
[Fiction Issue] ‘But what if I give birth to a girl?’—Read an excerpt from Helen Moffett’s debut solo novel, Charlotte
The JRB presents an excerpt from Helen Moffett’s debut solo novel, Charlotte. CharlotteHelen MoffettBonnier Zaffre, 2020 Read the excerpt: Mrs…
[Fiction Issue] ‘Like his mother, Emile Oliphant has always collected men.’—Read an excerpt from Lester Walbrugh’s debut short story collection Let It Fall Where It Will
The JRB presents an excerpt from Let It Fall Where It Will, Lester Walbrugh‘s debut short story collection. Lester WalbrughLet…
[Fiction Issue] ‘That’s how evenings in Nawa went.’—Read an excerpt from The Ardent Swarm, the English debut from award-winning author Yamen Manai
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Ardent Swarm, the third novel from award-winning Tunisian author Yamen Manai, but the…
‘One breath, away’, a new poem by Kelwyn Sole
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents new poetry by Kelwyn Sole. ~~~ Under a mucilaginous sky autumn sidles up to us bearing pandemic….
See you on the other side—a playlist for a Joburg December, compiled by Tymon Smith
The JRB presents tunes and accompanying editorial from our EAP member Tymon Smith. Ah, yes, December, month of sun and fun…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 4, Issue 9 (November 2020)
Wamuwi Mbao, Maaza Mengiste, Connor Cogill, Itumeleng Molefi, Adekeye Adebajo, Flora Veit-Wild, Bolu Babalola, Nakhane, Jacob Dlamini, Victor Dlamini, Shanice…
The archive has been rigged—Wamuwi Mbao reviews Patric Tariq Mellet’s The Lie of 1652, uncovering the debased half-truths installed as national narrative
In The Lie of 1652, Patric Tariq Mellet fills in the ‘before’ that was of little interest to those invested…
A triumph of a novel—Itumeleng Molefi reviews Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s The First Woman
The First Woman can be read as Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s answer to people who like to defend patriarchal power by…
‘We touch down, and I pray for the land of my ancestors to be good to me’—Read an excerpt from No Be From Hia by Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda
The JRB presents an excerpt from No Be From Hia, the debut novel by Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda. No Be From…
‘Oppression and thwarted aspiration are no bar to an appreciation of nature’—Read an excerpt from Jacob Dlamini’s new book Safari Nation: A Social History of the Kruger National Park
The JRB presents an excerpt from Safari Nation: A Social History of the Kruger National Park by Jacob Dlamini. Safari Nation:…
‘As much as you want to have sex with a stranger, this is mostly research’—Read an excerpt from ‘The Fool’, new writing by Nakhane, from Exhale: Queer African Erotic Fiction
The JRB presents an excerpt from ‘The Fool’ by Nakhane, from Exhale, a new anthology of queer writing. Exhale: Queer…
‘I had got involved with Dambudzo Marechera’—Read an excerpt from Flora Veit-Wild’s new memoir, They Called You Dambudzo
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from They Called You Dambudzo: A Memoir by Flora Veit-Wild. They Called You Dambudzo:…
‘Sometimes I would think, They had better interrogate me. At least there was contact.’—Read an excerpt from Women in Solitary: Inside the Female Resistance to Apartheid by Shanthini Naidoo
The JRB presents an excerpt from Shanthini Naidoo’s book Women in Solitary: Inside the Female Resistance to Apartheid. Women in…
‘The morning that followed was crisp and clear. The air was sweet as only after slaughter’—Read an excerpt from Shanice Ndlovu’s debut collection of short stories, The Pride of Noonlay
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Pride of Noonlay, the debut collection of short stories by Shanice Ndlovu. The…
Four new poems by Connor Cogill
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents new poetry by Connor Cogill. ~~~ Light through Water Now here, in this perfect pool, so new…
[Photo Editor] A portrait of Pumla Dineo Gqola 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 work. View this…
[The JRB Daily] 2020 South African Literary Awards winners announced
The winners of the 2020 South African Literary Awards have been announced. The winning writers were announced in a virtual…
Stephen Gray, 1941—2020, RIP
Prominent writer, academic and critic Stephen Gray has died. Gray passed away in Johannesburg on Thursday, 22 October, at the…
Angifi Dladla, 1950—2020, RIP
The poet Angifi Proctor Dladla has died, at the age of sixty-nine. The news was confirmed by Dladla’s family on…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 4, Issue 8 (October 2020)
Makena Onjerika, Wamuwi Mbao, Christa Kuljian, Shayera Dark, Sanya Osha, Sihle Ntuli, Zoë Wicomb, Sibongile Fisher, Nkiacha Atemnkeng, Nicky Falkof,…
Remembering Myesha Jenkins, a revolutionary in politics, poetry and jazz, by Christa Kuljian and Makhosazana Xaba
By Christa Kuljian and Makhosazana Xaba Transformation Who I was is not who I am.And who I amis not who I…
[The JRB Daily] 2019 Short Story Day Africa Prize ‘Disruption’ longlist announced—featuring 21 African writers from nine countries
This longlist for the seventh annual Short Story Day Africa Prize has been announced! The prize was founded in 2013,…
The dialectic of connectedness—remembering Harry Garuba in Ibadan
Sanya Osha remembers the late Harry Garuba, who died earlier this year. Since he passed in February this year, friends…
Remembering Achmat Dangor
Achmat Dangor, one of The JRB’s founding Patrons, died in September. Ben Williams remembers him. It is a year of…
[City Editor] ‘Who owns it, who visits it, who is it for?’ Lidudumalingani visits Joburg’s James Hall Museum of Transport
It’s an odd, even an imperfect location to build a museum—to build, many may argue, any kind of structure at…
Covid-19 and an author’s transformation into silence, by Niq Mhlongo
Niq Mhlongo on searching for stories during a pandemic. I arrive in Berlin on Monday, 10 February 2020. It is…
New poetry by Sihle Ntuli, from Rumblin’
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents new poetry by Sihle Ntuli, from his chapbook, Rumblin’, published by uHlanga Press. ~~~…