[The JRB Daily] Kazuo Ishiguro wins the Nobel Prize in Literature
English author Kazuo Ishiguro has won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The announcement was made by the Swedish Academy this…
Category: South Africa
[The JRB Daily] Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is the favourite to win the Nobel Prize in Literature—again
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is odds-on favourite to win the Nobel Prize in Literature this week. The JRB’s Editor Jennifer Malec…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 6 (October 2017)
Welcome to the sixth issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books. Half a dozen and going strong! In this edition,…
New poetry by Ingrid de Kok: ‘Closed for Reasons of Joy’
The Johannesburg Review of Books is proud to present previously unpublished poetry by Ingrid de Kok. Closed for Reasons of…
A stranger in ‘the Village’: Bongani Madondo remembers the magic of The Village Voice in print
When New York’s pout-fully punk weekly, The Village Voice, announced the end of its print issue last month, Gotham City…
A literary Sarah Baartman: Sanya Osha considers the need for intellectual decolonisation in rereading Amos Tutuola
Amos Tutuola deserves contemplation as a writer independent of the clutches of anthropology, argues Sanya Osha. How can we foster…
Making space for women in South Africa’s political memory, or, the case of the non-intersection of Pixley ka Seme and Charlotte Maxeke Streets
Recently published biographies of Pixley ka Seme and Charlotte Maxeke reveal how women’s histories become insignificant back roads in the…
‘Page 19’: A border tale of visas and Eastern Europe by Zukiswa Wanner
Author Zukiswa Wanner recounts high jinks and high drama on her way to Lviv, Ukraine. The following is an excerpt…
[City Editor] Soweto, heart of the nation: Niq Mhlongo takes a tour of his home
Niq Mhlongo reveals what to see and do for the complete experience of Soweto. Of all the entrance points into Soweto,…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits of Rafique Gangat and Aja Monet by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. Don’t miss the ten-year retrospective…
New short fiction from Short Sharp Stories: Ntsika Gogwana’s powerful story of love and murder, ‘Home Cooked’
Exclusive to The JRB, new short fiction from Ntsika Gogwana, excerpted from Trade Secrets, the new Short Sharp Stories anthology. Gogwana’s story,…
‘The youth cannot be fooled’: Alain Mabanckou believes a Sub-Saharan African Spring is imminent
Since August, Congolese-French author Alain Mabanckou has been posting enigmatic pictures and tweeting with the hashtag #RevolutionBassinDuCongo (samples below). Known…
New Ça va, ça va le monde! radio play features The Belly of the Atlantic by Senegalese author Fatou Diome
Radio France Internationale’s series of radio plays of contemporary Francophone literature, « Ça va, ça va le monde ! »…
The JRB Vol. 1, Issue 6 cover image features a photograph from UP UP: Stories of Johannesburg’s Highrises
Main image: Mpho Mokgadi This month’s cover image comes from UP UP: Stories of Johannesburg’s Highrises. UP UP: Stories of Johannesburg’s…
Phil Bonner, 1945—2017, RIP
Phil Bonner, leading historian and Africanist scholar, passed away in Johannesburg on Sunday, 24 September, aged seventy-two. Bonner was Professor…
[The JRB Daily] JM Coetzee reads a new story, ‘The Glass Abattoir’, and announces a new book to feature Elizabeth Costello
As part of the programme for an international congress on ‘The work of John Maxwell Coetzee in Latin America’, JM…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 5 (September 2017)
The fifth issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books has arrived—possibly our best edition yet. Before we dive in, we…
‘With any luck people will be reading The Sellout fifty years from now’ – an interview with Man Booker Prize-winning author Paul Beatty
The JRB Academic Editor Simon van Schalkwyk spoke to Paul Beatty, whose novel The Sellout won the 2016 Man Booker…
[Sponsored] Defining Black Consciousness publicly for the first time: Read an excerpt from The Testimony of Steve Biko
When Steve Biko entered the courtroom in Pretoria in 1974 as a star witness in the trial of nine student…
A rollicking tale: Alex Lichtenstein reviews Charles van Onselen’s new book The Cowboy Capitalist: John Hays Hammond, the American West and the Jameson Raid
Charles van Onselen’s new book offers a gripping narrative, a witty voice dripping with matchless sarcasm, and unparalleled knowledge of…
[Sponsored] Jacana Media host vital discussion on decolonising South African book editing
Sabata-Mpho Mokae, Dudu Busani-Dube, Helen Moffett, Rehana Rossouw and Malebo Sephodi recently featured on a panel discussing how to decolonise…
Ten years, thirty portraits: A Victor Dlamini retrospective
The JRB is honoured to present a selection of Victor Dlamini’s finest photographs, spanning 2007 to 2017. Publisher’s note: I…
[Sponsored] Jonathan Ball Publishers is giving away a book a day in September
For the month of September, Jonathan Ball Publishers will be giving away one book a day on Twitter. Jonathan Ball…
Rights of Conquest, Rights of Desire: Panashe Chigumadzi considers the black female body through a return to JM Coetzee’s Disgrace
This is an an edited excerpt of a longer essay appearing in Panashe Chigumadzi’s forthcoming book, provisionally titled Beautiful Hair…
Salman Rushdie’s finest writing in many years: CA Davids reviews The Golden House
Despite a tone of hopelessness, Salman Rushdie’s latest novel The Golden House carries majesty, from its prose to its world-weary gaze….
Read an exclusive excerpt from Dikeledi, the new novel from award-winning author Achmat Dangor
Exclusive to The JRB, an excerpt from Achmat Dangor’s newly released novel, Dikeledi. Dangor, a political activist and award-winning author,…
[City Editor] The place of the ancestors: Niq Mhlongo leaves the city to walk the hills of Mapungubwe
The JRB’s City Editor Niq Mhlongo takes some time out from sitting under his apricot tree in Soweto to visit…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits of Teju Cole and Paul Beatty by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. Don’t miss the ten-year retrospective of his…
[The JRB Daily] English Academy of Southern Africa Award winners announced
The winners of the English Academy of Southern Africa Awards for writing have been announced. Geoffrey Haresnape will receive the Thomas…
[The JRB Daily] JRB Contributing Editor Bongani Madondo up for Brittle Paper Literary Award
Main image: Bongani Madondo photographed by JRB Photo Editor Victor Dlamini To celebrate their seventh anniversary, Brittle Paper recently launched the…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 4 (August 2017)
The fourth issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books has arrived—and not a moment too soon, in our humble opinion….
Mak Manaka: One horny m’fcker – Bongani Madondo reviews Flowers of a Broken Smile
Take me to the memory of my grandmother’s hands I want to bathe in her voice and remember how…
A shared secondhand experience of South Africa: Mbali Sikakana reviews Zinzi Clemmons’s What We Lose
What We Lose Zinzi Clemmons Fourth Estate, 2017 Memory itself is an internal rumour —George Santayana But most of…
[Sponsored] We did not know it was the final farewell: An excerpt from Karina M Szczurek’s memoir, The Fifth Mrs Brink
Jonathan Ball Publishers has shared an excerpt from The Fifth Mrs Brink, Karina M Szczurek’s soul-baring memoirs of her life before,…
Two poems by Francine Simon
It is The JRB’s pleasure to publish, for the first time, two new poems by Francine Simon. ~ ~ ~…
[Sponsored] Reflecting Rogue – the hotly anticipated new book from Pumla Dineo Gqola
Reflecting Rogue is the much anticipated and brilliant collection of experimental autobiographical essays on power, pleasure and South African culture by…
[Photo Editor] An original portrait of Sisonke Msimang by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. ~~~ Sisonke Msimang, photographed by Victor Dlamini…
[City Editor] Niq Mhlongo meets his hero James Joyce in Zurich
‘Let’s meet at 5 pm at the Big Clock.’ My host Olivier Moreillon’s words are ringing in my head as…
[Sponsored] 3 new books commemorate the 40th anniversary of Steve Biko’s death
Pan Macmillan South Africa is publishing three books this year to honour the life and work of Steve Biko. The…
‘How to write about everything’—Binyavanga Wainaina on the problems faced by African writers, and how to overcome them
Binyavanga Wainaina spoke eloquently about his writing career and his life, and how the two are intertwined, at Wits University…