[The JRB Daily] Nathan Trantraal wins 2023 Philida Literary Award for ‘oeuvre of literary excellence’
Nathan Trantraal has been announced as the winner of the 2023 Philida Literary Award. The prize, established by Karina M…
Category: South Africa
[The JRB Daily] Yewande Omotoso and NoViolet Bulawayo longlisted for 2023 Dublin Literary Award—the world’s richest annual literary prize
Yewande Omotoso and NoViolet Bulawayo are among a number of writers from Africa longlisted for this year’s Dublin Literary Award….
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 6, Issue 6 (December 2022, the Fiction Issue)
Morabo Morojele • Yewande Omotoso • Imraan Coovadia • Makhosazana Xaba • Wamuwi Mbao • Eckard Smuts • Jarred Thompson…
[Fiction Issue] Read ‘The Auction’, a new short story by Makhosazana Xaba
The JRB presents new short fiction by Makhosazana Xaba. I am telling the life story of a blue wedding suit…
[Fiction Issue] Read ‘Let The Worms Have It’, a new short story by Eckard Smuts
The JRB presents new short fiction by Eckard Smuts. Let The Worms Have It By Eckard Smuts 8-45 When using…
[Fiction Issue] ‘The first child I born my legs still swung free on the odd occasion I had reason to sit ’pon a chair’—Read an excerpt from Yewande Omotoso’s work in progress
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from Nine Lives of The General, a work-in-progress by Yewande Omotoso. I only ever…
[Fiction Issue] Read ‘Sebenza’, a new short story by Wamuwi Mbao
The JRB presents new fiction by Wamuwi Mbao. Sebenza Sebenza brought recruiters to our villagesAnd took men far away to…
[Fiction Issue] ‘The night leaves a lot of room for the imagination’—Read an excerpt from Morabo Morojele’s forthcoming novel, Three Egg Dilemma
The JRB presents an excerpt from Three Egg Dilemma, the forthcoming novel from Morabo Morojele. Three Egg Dilemma,Morabo MorojeleJacana Media,…
[Fiction Issue] Read ‘Let That Sink In’, a psest by Ben Williams
The JRB presents a psest by Ben Williams. Let That Sink In A writer once told me he carried around…
[Fiction Issue] ‘The night leaves a lot of room for the imagination’—Read an excerpt from Po Bhattacharyya’s work in progress, Animal Behavior
The JRB presents an excerpt from Animal Behavior, a work in progress by Po Bhattacharyya. 1. In the beginning, I’m…
[Fiction Issue] ‘About guilt, if you spoke about guilt, there was no doubt’—Read an excerpt from Imraan Coovadia’s work in progress, An Enemy of the People
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from An Enemy of the People, a work-in-progress by Imraan Coovadia. So here too…
Poetry by Sarah Lubala, from A History of Disappearance
The JRB presents poetry from Sarah Lubala’s collection A History of Disappearance. A History of DisappearanceSarah LubalaBotsotso Publishing, 2022 6…
[Fiction Issue] ‘We can’t treat her here. You know the rules.’—Read an excerpt from Sue Nyathi’s latest novel An Angel’s Demise
The JRB presents an excerpt from An Angel’s Demise, the new novel from Sue Nyathi. An Angel’s DemiseSue NyathiPan Macmillan…
[Fiction Issue] Read an excerpt from Lidudumalingani’s new short story ‘Everywhere, Nowhere’, excerpted from the new edition of Imbiza
The JRB presents an excerpt from ‘Everywhere, Nowhere’, new short fiction by Lidudumalingani, excerpted from the new edition of Imbiza…
[Fiction Issue] ‘A Boer doesn’t flutter around a cloud of lightning bolts and thundercracks like a moth around a rotten apple’—Read an excerpt from Lodewyk G du Plessis’s debut novel The Dao of Daniel
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Dao of Daniel by Lodewyk G du Plessis, translated from the Afrikaans by…
[Fiction Issue] Read ‘teachers’, a short story by Masande Ntshanga
The JRB presents a short story by Masande Ntshanga, never before published in English outside of the limited edition chapbook…
[Fiction Issue] ‘That boy is a snake, I’m telling you … A green snake in green grass’—Read an excerpt from Leye Adenle’s new novel Unfinished Business
The JRB presents an excerpt from Unfinished Business, the new Amaka thriller by Leye Adenle. Unfinished BusinessLeye AdenleCassava Republic Press,…
[Fiction Issue] ‘There will be time to explore all of this during your stay’—Read an exclusive excerpt from Jarred Thompson’s forthcoming debut novel The Institute for Creative Dying
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from The Institute for Creative Dying, Jarred Thompson’s forthcoming debut novel, which will be…
[Fiction Issue] ‘I would be dead if not for books’—Read an excerpt from Hemley Boum’s prize-winning novel Days Come and Go
The JRB presents an excerpt from Days Come and Go by Hemley Boum, now available in English. Days Come and…
[Fiction Issue] ‘A strange guest invited into our house to stay forever’—Read an excerpt from Almini van der Merwe’s forthcoming debut Ghost Limb
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from Ghost Limb, the debut novel by Almini van der Merwe, which will be…
[Fiction Issue] ‘She prophesises bad omens when birds are kept caged’—Read an excerpt from Zaheera Jina Asvat’s Tears of the Weaver
The JRB presents an excerpt from Zaheera Jina Asvat’s short story ‘Birds Kept in Cages, Curse …’, from Tears of…
[Fiction Issue] ‘As if with an invisible thread, they were bound together by their circumstances’—Read an excerpt from Shevlyn Mottai’s debut novel Across the Kala Pani
The JRB presents an excerpt from Across the Kala Pani, the debut novel by Shevlyn Mottai. Across the Kala PaniShevlyn…
[Fiction Issue] ‘You’ll appeal more to audiences who’ve never seen people like you’—Read an excerpt from Laila Manack’s debut novel Sisters of the Circus
The JRB presents an excerpt from Sisters of the Circus, the debut novel by Laila Manack. Sisters of the CircusLaila…
[Fiction Issue] ‘My brother realised that he married a witch!’—Read an excerpt from Thabile Shange’s debut adult novel In the Midst of It All
The JRB presents an excerpt from In the Midst of It All, the debut novel by Thabile Shange. In the…
[Photo Editor] A portrait of Teju Cole 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 Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 6, Issue 5 (November 2022)
Shayera Dark • Wamuwi Mbao • Dimakatso Sedite • Carey Baraka • Karen Jennings • Tjawangwa Dema • Karin Schimke…
‘Unapologetic, evocative and darkly humorous’—Dimakatso Sedite reviews Bury Me Naked, the debut collection of poetry from Teamhw SbonguJesu
Teamhw SbonguJesu’s debut collection of poetry, Bury Me Naked, delivers a conscientious, humorous, much-needed lesson in a poetics of voice…
‘When the Booker longlisting happened, I thought, oh, I’m going to have to start writing again’—Karen Jennings chats to Jennifer Malec about writing, fame and loneliness (Plus: exclusive audio)
Author Karen Jennings was in conversation with The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec at the Origins Centre in Johannesburg recently, as…
Helping new perspectives and worlds of experience be heard—Karin Schimke visits Paulet House, home of the Jakes Gerwel Foundation writer’s residency
The R335 curves around the eastern border of Addo Elephant Park and spools north through the cushiony green hills of…
‘No meaningful change can come from those who seek only power’—Read ‘Various Histories’, an essay by Jim Pascual Agustin
The JRB presents an updated version of an essay first published in Jim Pascual Agustin’s book of poems Bloodred Dragonflies:…
‘I was an identity-less person at the mercy of apartheid officials’—Read an excerpt from Cleaner’s Boy: A Resistance Road to a Liberated Life by Patric Tariq Mellet
The JRB presents an excerpt from Patric Tariq Mellet’s autobiography Cleaner’s Boy: A Resistance Road to a Liberated Life. Cleaner’s…
‘I remember the day Nelson Mandela returned, exactly thirty years after his death’—Read Siyawa by Kneo Mokgopa, from Our Move Next
The JRB presents an excerpt from Our Move Next: Digital Folklore. Our Move Next: Digital FolkloreCurated by Sarah Summers and…
‘There was a heated discussion about me going to work for this “native” paper’—Read an excerpt from Freedom Writer, the memoir of legendary journalist Juby Mayet
The JRB presents an excerpt from Freedom Writer: My Life and Times by the late Juby Mayet. Freedom Writer: My…
[Photo Editor] A portrait of Karen Jennings 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 JRB Daily] 2022 South African Literary Awards winners announced
The winners of the 2022 South African Literary Awards (the SALAs) have been announced. The winning writers were announced in…
[The JRB Daily] Mignonne Breier and Tshidiso Moletsane win the 2022 Sunday Times Literary Awards
The winners of the 2022 Sunday Times Literary Awards have been announced. Mignonne Breier has won the Non-fiction Award for…
[The JRB Daily] Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa call for submissions
Submissions for the second annual Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa are now open. This literary prize, founded…
[The JRB Daily] Annie Ernaux receives the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature
French author Annie Ernaux has been awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature, the Swedish Academy announced today in Stockholm….
[The JRB Daily] 2022 UJ Prizes for South African Writing in English winners announced
Header image: Mandla Langa, A’Eysha Kassiem and Lisa-Anne Julien The winners of the University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African…
[The JRB Daily] Shortlists announced for 2022 UJ Prizes for South African Writing in English (Plus: winners of Creative Writing in isiZulu and Sesotho sa Leboa, and Literary Translation)
The shortlists for the annual University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in English have been announced. The 2022…