[The JRB Daily] Terry Kurgan and Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu win the 2019 Sunday Times Literary Awards
The winners of the 2019 Sunday Times Literary Awards have been announced. Terry Kurgan has won the Alan Paton Award…
Category: South Africa
[The JRB Daily] 2019 Booker Prize shortlist announced—including Nigerian author Chigozie Obioma
The 2019 Booker Prize longlist has been announced, with the judges praising the ‘extraordinary ambition’ of the six books. First…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 3, Issue 9
Wamuwi Mbao • Patrick Flanery • Mapule Mohulatsi • Efemia Chela • Outlwile Tsipane • Jennifer Malec • Billy Kahora…
‘Among the most gifted writers currently at work’—Patrick Flanery reviews The Troubled Times of Magrieta Prinsloo by Ingrid Winterbach
The Troubled Times of Magrieta Prinsloo by Ingrid Winterbach offers us one of the most chilling and fearless portraits of…
[Sponsored] Find out more about Alex van Tonder’s ‘dark, deadly and beautiful’ psychological thriller A Walk at Midnight
Devoted wife. Mother. Writer. Murderer? ‘This extraordinary novel is dark, deadly and beautiful. I couldn’t put it down.’ – Iain S…
A burden, an honour, a revolutionary tactic—Read an interview with some of the contributors to Black Tax: Burden or Ubuntu, a new collection of essays edited by Niq Mhlongo
The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec interviews some of the contributors to Black Tax: Burden or Ubuntu, a new collection of essays edited…
‘A millennial Kenya we’ve never seen in fiction before’—Read an excerpt from The Cape Cod Bicycle War and Other Stories by Billy Kahora
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Cape Cod Bicycle War and Other Stories, the much-anticipated new book by Billy…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits of Mbali Sikakana and Sisonke Msimang by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. Visit the ten-year retrospective of…
Three poems by Musawenkosi Khanyile
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents three poems by Musawenkosi Khanyile. Habeni You learn to tell the direction of the…
The deferred dreams of so many people who put family commitments before their own needs—Read Niq Mhlongo’s Introduction to Black Tax: Burden or Ubuntu
Read an excerpt from Black Tax: Burden or Ubuntu, a new collection of essays edited by City Editor Niq Mhlongo….
A brief history of Joubert Park, an unruly space of despondency and hope—Read an excerpt from Civilising Grass: The Art of the Lawn on the South African Highveld by Jonathan Cane
The JRB presents an excerpt from Civilising Grass: The Art of the Lawn on the South African Highveld by Jonathan…
[The JRB Daily] Listen to Read This!—a new show about books hosted by The JRB and Volume—out today!
The Johannesburg Review of Books and Volume have launched a new books show called Read This!, where we share news…
[The JRB Daily] English Academy of Southern Africa Awards winners announced
The full list of winners of the English Academy of Southern Africa Awards for writing have been announced. In addition…
Toni Morrison, 1931—2019, RIP
Toni Morrison, celebrated novelist and Nobel Laureate, has died, aged eighty-eight. Morrison passed away at the Montefiore Medical Center in…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 3, Issue 8
Wamuwi Mbao • Panashe Chigumadzi • Makhosazana Xaba • Lesley Nneka Arimah • Niq Mhlongo • Elinor Sisulu • Victor…
Read ‘Surely This [Mother Tongue] Should Count for Something’—A conversation with 5 women poets, from Makhosazana Xaba’s new book Our Words, Our Worlds
The JRB presents an excerpt from Our Words, Our Worlds: Writing on Black South African Women Poets, 2000–2018, edited by…
On Noni Jabavu and the return home—Makhosazana Xaba celebrates one of South Africa’s foundational literary centenarians
This August marks one hundred years since the birth of Noni Jabavu. Makhosazana Xaba reflects on the life of this…
Read ‘What Does It Mean To Be African?’ by Afua Hirsch, from the new anthology New Daughters of Africa
In celebration of Women’s Month, The JRB presents a series of excerpts from New Daughters of Africa. Edited by Margaret…
Read an excerpt from the forthcoming English translation of Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida’s award-winning debut novel That Hair, from the new anthology New Daughters of Africa
In celebration of Women’s Month, The JRB presents a series of excerpts from New Daughters of Africa. Edited by Margaret…
New poetry by Rethabile Masilo—‘For Peter Horn (1934–2019)’
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents a previously unpublished poem by Rethabile Masilo. For Peter Horn (1934—2019) We howled into…
[City Editor] Arsène, Mos Def, Ben Okri and me—authors and the problems of mistaken identity, by Niq Mhlongo
On 25 June 2019, during the State of the Nation (SONA) debate, our Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula tried to impress…
[The JRB exclusive] New short fiction: ‘Mr Thompson’ by Noel Cheruto, first runner-up in the 2018 Short Story Day Africa Prize
The JRB presents the winning stories from this year’s Short Story Day Africa Prize. Egyptian writer Adam El Shalakany won the…
[The JRB exclusive] New short fiction: ‘The Space(s) Between Us’ by Lester Walbrugh, second runner-up in the 2018 Short Story Day Africa Prize
The JRB presents the winning stories from this year’s Short Story Day Africa Prize. Egyptian writer Adam El Shalakany won the…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits of Chibundu Onuzo and Michela Wrong by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. Visit the ten-year retrospective of…
[The JRB Daily] Short Story Day Africa winners announced—‘the closest competition yet seen in SSDA’s history’
Egyptian writer Adam El Shalakany has won the 2018 Short Story Day Africa Prize for his story ‘Happy City Hotel’—becoming the…
[The JRB Daily] Sign up for Read This!—a new voice note show, hosted by The JRB and Volume
The Johannesburg Review of Books and Volume have launched a new books show called Read This!, where you can discover…
Harry Kalmer, 1956—2019, RIP
Celebrated novelist and playwright Harry Kalmer has died, at the age of sixty-two. Kalmer passed away on 26 July 2019,…
[The JRB Daily] 9mobile releases statement confirming that a winner for the 2018 9mobile Prize for Literature will be announced
Telecommunications company 9mobile has sent out a press release clarifying—to a point—the status of the 9mobile Prize for Literature, one…
[The JRB Daily] 2019 Sunday Times Literary Awards shortlists announced—celebrating ‘the best of South African non-fiction and fiction’
The shortlists for the 2019 Sunday Times Literary Awards have been revealed! The duo of awards—the Alan Paton Award for…
Moses Mtileni, 1983—2019, RIP
Writer and publisher Moses Nzama Khaizen Mtileni has died, at the age of thirty-six. Mtileni was shot and fatally wounded…
[The JRB Daily] 2018 Short Story Day Africa shortlist announced—‘we’ve never seen such a photo finish’
The shortlist for the Short Story Day Africa Prize for Short Fiction has been announced. The JRB is delighted that our regular…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 3, Issue 7
Jacob Dlamini • Lauren Beukes • Mphuthumi Ntabeni • Wamuwi Mbao • Zanta Nkumane • TC Farren • Siphiwe Gloria…
[Sponsored] Read an excerpt from The Enforcers, revealing a brazen plot to assassinate Nelson Mandela at his inauguration
Jonathan Ball Publishers has shared an excerpt from The Enforcers: Inside Cape Town’s Deadly Nightclub Battles by Caryn Dolley. Find out more…
How to write beautifully about our horrible, hysterical present—Jennifer Malec reviews Ali Smith’s new novel, Spring
The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec reviews Spring, the third book in Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet, a strange beast. SpringAli SmithHamish Hamilton, 2019…
‘I was trying to catch an echo of a memory I never experienced’—Mphuthumi Ntabeni chats to Zoë August about his novel, The Broken River Tent
Zoë August discusses The Broken River Tent, the rise of the African historical novel, and African literature’s trajectory in general,…
‘To know the African wild was to know the African subject’—What training as a field guide taught Jacob Dlamini about culture, nature, power and race
The JRB presents a new essay by Jacob Dlamini. For Dlamini, what began as a research project on the labour…
[The JRB exclusive] Read an excerpt from Ungirls, a new disturbing and provocative story by Lauren Beukes [Plus: Sample the audiobook]
The JRB presents an excerpt from Ungirls, a new short story from Editorial Advisory Panel member Lauren Beukes. Ungirls is…
New poetry by Robin Moger—Two versions of ‘Poem Six’ from The Interpreter of Desires by Ibn Arabi
The following two translations are responses to the sixth poem in The Interpreter of Desires, a cycle of sixty-one poems…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits of Ahmed Essop and Don Mattera by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. Visit the ten-year retrospective of…
‘It’s an excavation of the darkest place in our species’—Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu interviews TC Farren about her new novel, The Book of Malachi
Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, author of The Theory of Flight, interviewed novelist and screenwriter TC Farren on her latest work of…