[The JRB Daily] 2021 Booker Prize longlist announced—including Damon Galgut, Karen Jennings and Nadifa Mohamed
The 2021 Booker Prize longlist has been announced, with this year’s crop of thirteen novels described by the judges as…
Category: South Africa
[The JRB Daily] [Exclusive] Read ‘Five Years Next Sunday’ by Idza Luhumyo, winner of the 2019/20 Short Story Day Africa Prize
This week, The JRB has been publishing the winning stories from this year’s Short Story Day Africa Prize. The winners of…
[The JRB Daily] South African poet Maneo Refiloe Mohale wins Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry
South African poet Maneo Refiloe Mohale was recently named the winner of the African Poetry Book Fund’s 2020 Glenna Luschei…
[The JRB Daily] Short Story Day Africa Prize ‘Disruption’ winners announced—judges impressed with the ‘calibre and imaginative reach’ of the stories
The winners of the 2020/21 Short Story Day Africa Prize have been announced. Header image: Idza Luhumyo (winner), Mbozi Haimbe…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 5, Issue 3 (June 2021)
Wamuwi Mbao, Efemia Chela, Robert Jones Jr, Athambile Masola, Lidudumalingani, Simon van Schalkwyk, Damon Galgut, Mark Gevisser, Adekeye Adebajo, Myesha…
Private prayer and public power—Athambile Masola reviews Mothers of the Nation: Manyano Women in South Africa by Lihle Ngcobozi
Lihle Ngcobozi’s Mothers of the Nation reveals the social complexity and political depth of the Manyano Women’s movement, writes Athambile…
‘Most of the stories have been told by now, it’s just the ways of telling that are new’—Damon Galgut talks with Mark Gevisser about his new novel, The Promise
Damon Galgut was in conversation with Mark Gevisser recently for the launch of his latest novel, The Promise. This is…
Poetry by Keith Lewis, Nqobile Lombo, Busisiwe Mahlangu, Mthabisi Sithole and Xabiso Vili from Yesterdays and Imagining Realities: An Anthology of South African Poetry
The JRB presents poems by Keith Lewis, Nqobile Lombo, Busisiwe Mahlangu, Mthabisi Sithole and Xabiso Vili, selected from Yesterdays and…
[City Editor] Re-mapping the city by suicide—Lidudumalingani on the hidden brutality of the Johannesburg skyline
Re-mapping the city by suicide. Tiny dots of what is left when we die etched into the urban cartography. Souls…
View an excerpt from African Cosmologies: Photography, Time, and the Other, including work by Zanele Muholi, Hélène A Amouzou and Wilfred Ukpong
The JRB presents an excerpt from African Cosmologies: Photography, Time, and the Other. African Cosmologies: Photography, Time, and the OtherFotofestSchilt…
[The JRB exclusive] Read an excerpt from a new edition of Lewis Nkosi’s one-act play Flying Home!, and a note by the editor
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from Lewis Nkosi: The Black Psychiatrist | Flying Home: Texts, Perspectives, Homage. The book,…
‘I share me so you can know you’—Read an excerpt from Thirty Five Poems by the late Myesha Jenkins
The JRB presents an excerpt from Thirty Five Poems, a posthumously published collection of poetry by Myesha Jenkins, who passed…
[The JRB exclusive] Three poems from the new edition of Cemetery of Mind by Dambudzo Marechera
Zimbabwean author Dambudzo Marechera’s poems, collected by Flora Veit-Wild in Cemetery of Mind, are available in ebook form for the…
‘You’re lucky, you know,’ her mother once told her. ‘She’s a very easy baby’—Read an excerpt from Naledi Mashishi’s debut novel, Invisible Strings
The JRB presents an excerpt from Invisible Strings by Naledi Mashishi. Invisible StringsNaledi MashishiBlackBird Books, 2021 Read the excerpt: Chapter…
Johannesburg’s Place of Good Hope—Read an excerpt from Amakomiti: Grassroots Democracy in South African Shack Settlements by Trevor Ngwane
The JRB presents an excerpt from Trevor Ngwane’s forthcoming book Amakomiti: Grassroots Democracy in South African Shack Settlements. Amakomiti: Grassroots…
A Midwinter’s Musical Tale, compiled by Tymon Smith
The JRB presents tunes and accompanying editorial from our EAP member Tymon Smith. Natalie Portman and I are exactly the same age, born…
[The JRB Daily] 2021 Sunday Times/CNA Literary Awards shortlists announced
The shortlists for the 2021 Sunday Times/CNA Literary Awards have been revealed. The awards celebrate ‘the best of South African…
Tony Morphet, 1940—2021, RIP
Tony Morphet, who died in Cape Town on 2 May, aged eighty-one, led a professional life—as teacher, university lecturer and…
[The JRB Daily] 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize regional winners announced—including Rwandan-born Namibian author Rémy Ngamije
Header image: Rémy Ngamije (Namibia), Roland Watson-Grant (Jamaica), Kanya D’Almeida (Sri Lanka), Carol Farrelly (UK), Katerina Gibson (Australia) The regional…
[The JRB Daily] Short Story Day Africa Prize ‘Disruption’ shortlist announced—featuring 8 African writers from 5 countries
The shortlist for the seventh Short Story Day Africa Prize has been announced, the JRB can exclusively reveal! The prize was…
Ronnie Govender, 1934—2021, RIP
Renowned activist, writer, playwright and director Ronnie Govender has died, aged eighty-six. He passed away in Cape Town on 29…
[The JRB Daily] 2021 Sunday Times/CNA Literary Awards longlists announced
The longlists for the 2021 Sunday Times/CNA Literary Awards have been revealed. The awards celebrate ‘the best of South African…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 5, Issue 2 (April 2021)
Wamuwi Mbao, Damon Galgut, Mercy Dhliwayo, Richard Poplak, Bhakti Shringarpure, Peace Adzo Medie, Femi Kayode, Panashe Chigumadzi, Phumlani Pikoli, Ayanda…
‘They say charity begins at home. But so does depression’—Mercy Dhliwayo talks to Jennifer Malec about her debut collection of short stories, Bringing Us Back
Mercy Dhliwayo chatted to The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec about family relationships, border jumping, and her debut collection of short…
[City Editor] The people who stare at the city—Lidudumalingani recognises Joburg’s street vendors, our unacknowledged everyday archivists
The man at the bottom of Johannesburg Road in Highlands North, where Berkswell Road intersects it, punching it from the…
‘I wanted to explore the “otherness” we feel when we go back home’—Femi Kayode talks to Jennifer Malec about his debut novel, Lightseekers
Femi Kayode chatted to The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec about being ‘other’ in your home country, the nature of evil, and his…
‘Black women’s imaginative works are wreaths lain on the graves of ancestors so that they may not weep.’—Read an excerpt from Panashe Chigumadzi’s essay ‘Hearing the Silence’
The JRB presents an excerpt from a new essay by The JRB Contributing Editor Panashe Chigumadzi, from Surfacing: On Being…
Read ‘Seasons Change’, a short story by the late Phumlani Pikoli, from his book The Fatuous State of Severity
Multidisciplinary artist and award-winning author Phumlani Pikoli passed away tragically this week, aged thirty-three. Phumlani was an inspiring and passionate…
‘Nobody is dead. It’s a word, that’s all.’—Read an exclusive excerpt from The Promise, the forthcoming novel by Damon Galgut
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from The Promise, the new novel by Damon Galgut, which will be released in…
An autumn megamix playlist, compiled by Tymon Smith
The JRB presents tunes and accompanying editorial from our EAP member Tymon Smith. Just in time for the season’s change, here is this…
Poetry by Ayanda Billie, Siza Nkosi Mokhele, Maneo Mohale and Masai Sepuru from Years of Fire and Ash: South African Poems of Decolonisation
The JRB presents a selection of poetry from Years of Fire and Ash: South African Poems of Decolonisation, a new…
[Photo Editor] A portrait of Nawal El Saadawi (1931—2021) 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…
‘My mother does not remember how old she was when she buried the first of her children.’—Read an excerpt from Thenjiwe Mswane’s debut novel All Gomorrahs Are The Same
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from All Gomorrahs Are The Same, the debut novel from Thenjiwe Mswane. All Gomorrahs…
[The JRB Daily] 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlist announced—including Rémy Ngamije and Moso Sematlane
Header image, from top left: Moso Sematlane, Rémy Ngamije, Ola W Halim, Vincent Anioke and Franklyn Usouwa The shortlist for…
Phumlani Pikoli, 1988—2021, RIP
Multidisciplinary artist and award-winning author Phumlani Pikoli has died, aged thirty-three. According to a family statement, Pikoli was found dead…
[The JRB Daily] 2021 Humanities and Social Sciences Awards winners announced—including The JRB’s Makhosazana Xaba and Niq Mhlongo
The winners of the 2021 Humanities and Social Sciences Awards (HSS Awards) have been announced. The winners were announced at…
[The JRB Daily] ‘To be truly powerful is to have your own voice and tell your own story’—Read Zukiswa Wanner’s ‘career-defining’ Time of the Writer keynote address
The author, activist, founder of Afrolit Sans Frontieres and Goethe Medal winner Zukiswa Wanner gave the keynote address at the…
Chris Mann, 1948—2021, RIP
The noted South African poet, playwright, academic and performer Chris Mann has died, it has been reported. According to a…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 5, Issue 1 (February 2021)
Wamuwi Mbao, Lidudumalingani, Efemia Chela, Stephen Langtry, Lebohang Mojapelo, Kopano Maroga, Simon van Schalkwyk, Sanya Osha, Louisa Uchum Egbunike, Tymon…
To move about in an unkind world under the mark of racial blackness—Wamuwi Mbao reviews Scatterlings, the debut novel by Rešoketšwe Manenzhe
Wamuwi Mbao reviews Rešoketšwe Manenzhe’s novel Scatterlings, winner of the 2020 Dinaane Debut Fiction Award. ScatterlingsRešoketšwe ManenzheJacana Media, 2020 There…