The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 9, Issue 1 (March 2025)
Finuala Dowling • Hassana Moosa • Shayera Dark • Wamuwi Mbao • Sean Jacobs • Seitlhamo Thabo Motsapi • Sihle…
Category: South Africa
‘To read a collection this accomplished is to wonder anew at how poems are made’—Finuala Dowling reviews Ingrid de Kok’s Unleaving
Unleaving, Ingrid de Kok’s seventh collection of poetry, speaks of private grief, personal loss, ambiguity and hope, writes Finuala Dowling….
A profoundly beautiful exploration of what ageing means for those who lived in compact with racial separation—Wamuwi Mbao reviews God’s Waiting Room by Casey Golomski
What does it mean to want grace after such a thing as apartheid? What might it look like? God’s Waiting…
Omar Badsha: an ordinary South African whose struggles and triumphs offer insights into broader social movements—Sean Jacobs reviews Available Light by Daniel Magaziner
Available Light continues Daniel Magaziner’s significant work in shedding light on the lives of Black artists and intellectuals under apartheid,…
‘Once Removed feels rare’—Kris Van der Bijl reviews David Mann’s debut short story collection
David Mann’s short story collection Once Removed is inventive, and in tune with what it means to be a young…
‘I realised a long time ago that not everyone appreciates expressive or creative honesty’—Sihle Ntuli interviews Seitlhamo Thabo Motsapi
Sihle Ntuli talks to Seitlhamo Thabo Motsapi about subverting language, the beauty of Black creativity, and his seminal poetry collection,…
Read ‘Sweet Meat’, new short fiction by Megan Ross
The JRB presents new short fiction by Megan Ross. Sweet Meat ‘Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing…
New poetry by Abigail George
The JRB presents previously unpublished poetry by Abigail George. ~~~ In a lonely city searching for Walt Whitman and Chris Abani (for…
New poetry by Seitlhamo Thabo Motsapi
The JRB presents previously unpublished poetry by Seitlhamo Thabo Motsapi. ~~~ ~~~ araifal we crossed the river this morning the camels had…
[Photo Editor] A portrait of Makhosazana Xaba 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…
Read William Kentridge’s essay ‘It Will Always Be You’, excerpted from Your History with Me: The Films of Penny Siopis, edited by Sarah Nuttall
The JRB presents an excerpt from Your History with Me: The Films of Penny Siopis, edited by Sarah Nuttall. Your…
‘They began to see that science was not isolated from politics but shaped by it’—Read an excerpt from Our Science, Ourselves by Christa Kuljian
The JRB presents an excerpt from Christa Kuljian’s new book, Our Science, Ourselves: How Gender, Race, and Social Movements Shaped…
What would Fanon say? Read the Preface to Frantz Fanon: Combat Breathing by Nigel C Gibson
The JRB presents an excerpt from Nigel C Gibson’s new book, Frantz Fanon: Combat Breathing. Frantz Fanon: Combat BreathingNigel C…
‘Before they were grandmothers, they were young’—Read an excerpt from Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani’s Dinaane Debut Fiction Award-winning novel Buried in the Chest
The JRB presents an excerpt from Buried in the Chest by Lindani Mbunyuza-Memani, winner of the 2024 Dinaane Debut Fiction…
‘The gun pointed at my head is one of ours’—Read an excerpt from Onke Mazibuko’s new thriller Canary
The JRB presents an excerpt from Canary, the highly anticipated second novel from Onke Mazibuko. CanaryOnke MazibukoPenguin Random House SA,…
Read ‘The Complexities of Intimacy for Black Middle-Class Women’, excerpted from Love in Jozi: The Black Middle Class, Love and Intimacy in Johannesburg
The JRB presents an excerpt from Love in Jozi: The Black Middle Class, Love and Intimacy in Johannesburg, edited by…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 8, Issue 4 (December 2024)—the Stranger than Fiction Issue!
Yewande Omotoso • Mandla Langa • Karen Jennings • Simon van Schalkwyk • Masiyaleti Mbewe • Wamuwi Mbao • Werner…
Read ‘The Underwhelm of Bijou Benjamine’, an excerpt from a work in progress by Yewande Omotoso
The JRB presents an excerpt from a short fiction work in progress by Yewande Omotoso. The Underwhelm of Bijou Benjamine …
‘Even as I thought about my brothers, I felt this distance from them, from their spirits; they were abstract beings, as remote as characters in a dream’—An excerpt from a forthcoming novel by Mandla Langa
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from The Rupture, a forthcoming novel by EAP member Mandla Langa. ~~~ Since it was almost…
‘Come the first of December the chains will be broken for good’—Read an excerpt from a forthcoming novel by Karen Jennings
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from The First of December, a forthcoming novel by Karen Jennings. ~~~ Of the…
Read ‘Antlers’, new short fiction by Simon van Schalkwyk
The JRB presents new short fiction by Simon van Schalkwyk. Antlers Anyone who has visited Giant’s Castle will know the story…
Read ‘Details’, new short fiction by Wamuwi Mbao
The JRB presents new short fiction by Wamuwi Mbao. ~~~ Details ~~~ Header image: Daniel Watson/Unsplash
Read ‘Die Voorkamer’, new short fiction by Werner Pretorius
The JRB presents new short fiction by Werner Pretorius. ~~~ Die Voorkamer We sat up in the big front room…
Read ‘Dog’s Life’, new short fiction by Niq Mhlongo
The JRB presents—exclusively and for the first time in English—a new short story by Niq Mhlongo. This story was first…
‘Poetry as an act of clairvoyance’—Finuala Dowling reviews Heart’s Hunger, a selection of poetry by Karen Press
To read Karen Press’s Heart’s Hunger is not just to know where we have come from, but to feel in…
‘Poetry has always been a way for me to process life’—Saaleha Idrees Bamjee in conversation with Makhosazana Xaba
This is the eighth in a series of long-form interviews by Patron Makhosazana Xaba to be hosted on The JRB,…
‘Johannesburg provokes extreme responses, one way or the other, because it’s full of contradictions’—An interview with Ivan Vladislavic about his new book The Near North
JRB Editor Jennifer Malec interviews The JRB Patron Ivan Vladislavić about his new book, The Near North. The Near NorthIvan VladislavićPicador Africa, 2024…
Grab whatever warm slice of life you can before it turns on you—Read an excerpt from Nthato Mokgata’s debut novel Ghost in the Drum
The JRB presents an excerpt from Ghost in the Drum, the debut novel by Nthato Mokgata aka Spoek Mathambo. Ghost…
‘My pilgrimage to Durban was written before I was born’—Read an excerpt from Roohi Choudhry’s forthcoming debut novel Outside Women
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from Roohi Choudhry’s debut novel Outside Women, which will be published in March 2025….
‘I don’t go home for the funeral. Except, perhaps I do …’ Read an excerpt from Anna Stroud’s debut novel Who Looks Inside
The JRB presents an excerpt from Who Looks Inside, the debut novel by Anna Stroud. Who Looks InsideAnna StroudKaravan Press,…
Poetry by Joan Metelerkamp, from Under dark under branches
The JRB presents an excerpt from Under dark under branches, the new poetry collection by Joan Metelerkamp. Under dark under…
Taking Guard in Inner-city Johannesburg—Read an excerpt from Niren Tolsi’s new book Writing Around the Wicket: Race, Class and History in South African Cricket
The JRB presents an excerpt from Writing Around the Wicket: Race, Class and History in South African Cricket by Niren…
Ambiguous utopias—Hedley Twidle salutes Ursula K Le Guin’s The Dispossessed on its 50th anniversary
Ursula K Le Guin’s masterpiece was published fifty years ago this year. In a literary outtake from his most recent…
One Hundred Years of Book Covers—Read an excerpt from Publishing from the South: A Century of Wits University Press
The JRB presents an excerpt from Publishing from the South: A Century of Wits University Press. The book is available…
[Photo Editor] A portrait of Bulelwa Mabasa 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…
It’s been, as they say, one helluva year—A playlist compiled by Tymon Smith
It’s the holidays, so here in slight recognition, if not celebration, is the final Radio JRB offering of the year….
[The JRB Daily] Gabrielle Mudiwa awarded inaugural Achmat Dangor Literary Prize
Gabrielle Mudiwa has won the first ever Achmat Dangor Literary Prize, an award dedicated to nurturing young, previously disadvantaged writers…
[The JRB Daily] 2024 South African Literary Awards winners announced
The winners of the 2024 South African Literary Awards (the SALAs) have been announced. The SALAs are awarded annually by…
[The JRB Daily] Jonny Steinberg and Andrew Brown win the 2024 Sunday Times Literary Awards
The winners of the 2024 Sunday Times Literary Awards have been announced. Jonny Steinberg won the Sunday Times Non-fiction Award…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 8, Issue 3 (October 2024)
Shayera Dark • Wamuwi Mbao • Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu • Makhosazana Xaba • Tariro Ndoro • Nozizwe Cynthia Jele •…