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,…
Category: South Africa
[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…
Remembering Marechera: Humboldt University hosts archive of the Zimbabwean author’s estate
There is a black-and-white portrait of Dambudzo Marechera, taken in Harare in 1986 by the Dutch photographer Ernst Schade, that…
‘Smaller’: New short fiction from Nick Mulgrew’s forthcoming collection, The First Law of Sadness
Exclusive to The JRB, new short fiction by South African writer Nick Mulgrew, excerpted from his forthcoming collection The First…
In honour of Emma Mashinini: An excerpt from Strikes Have Followed Me All My Life
… I have always resented being dominated. I resent being dominated by a man, and I resent being dominated by…
The book that was read around the world: Masande Ntshanga chats about the many versions of his debut novel, The Reactive
Masande Ntshanga’s debut novel, The Reactive, came out from Umuzi in 2014. Since then, it has won international publishing contracts…
Pavel Buys an Ejector Seat: Read an exclusive English excerpt from Richard de Nooy’s new book, Van kleine helden
Richard de Nooy’s new book, Van kleine helden, was launched in the Netherlands earlier this month. He’s currently working on…
[The JRB Daily] Nthikeng Mohlele and Mohale Mashigo win the UJ Prizes for South African Writing
The winners of the 2016 University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in English have been announced. Nthikeng Mohlele…
[The JRB Daily] 2017 Man Booker Prize longlist announced—no African authors make the cut
The longlist for the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction has been announced. The prize, worth £50,000, was first awarded…
[The JRB Daily] Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie pays touching tribute to Binyavanga Wainaina: ‘A great and rare and genuine talent’
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie paid homage to Binyavanga Wainaina yesterday evening, in a touching message read out at an event at…
[The JRB Daily] Turbulent, hopeful and long overdue: Henrietta Rose-Innes considers transformation in South African literature in the Times Literary Supplement
The United Kingdom release of Henrietta Rose-Innes’s latest novel, Green Lion, is imminent, and to mark the occasion she has written…
[The JRB Daily] Sudanese writer Bushra al-Fadil wins the 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing
Sudanese writer Bushra al-Fadil has won the 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing for his story ‘The Story of the…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 3 (July 2017)
The third issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books is here, with some big reviews, in-depth interviews and quality ruminations…
[Exclusive interview and audio] ‘White fragility ends discussions … and ends lives’: Claudia Rankine speaks in Soweto
‘In the US we have just elected a government committed to white supremacy. Tonight I wanted to talk about what…
‘It began with a burial site’: Nadia Davids on her new work, What Remains, a play about slavery and the haunted city
All that is buried is not dead. —Olive Schreiner, The Story of an African Farm Ant swarming City City full…
[Sponsored] The White Road – the hotly anticipated new book from Sarah Lotz – is out in June
The White Road, the chilling new thriller by Sarah Lotz, is out in June locally from Jonathan Ball Publishers. The…
[Sponsored] Win a copy of The Man Who Founded the ANC: A biography of Pixley ka Isaka Seme
The Reading List and Penguin Random House South Africa have got three copies of The Man Who Founded the ANC:…
A steady vigil over the slow death of the anti-apartheid dream: Rustum Kozain reviews Kelwyn Sole’s latest poetry collection, Walking, Falling
Kelwyn Sole Walking, Falling Deep South, 2017 Read: Four Poems by Kelwyn Sole Walking, Falling extends Kelwyn Sole’s…
Four Poems by Kelwyn Sole
Kelwyn Sole Walking, Falling Deep South Publishers, 2017 Read Rustum Kozain’s review of this collection: A steady…
New short fiction: ‘Love Back’ by Julie Nxadi
The JRB presents new short fiction by Julie Nxadi. Love Back Kwathi kaloku ngantsomi, there were clouds too lazy to…
[City Editor] Niq Mhlongo meets Shaka Zulu at a restaurant in Cologne, Germany
Having been here for three weeks now, I think it should be considered an act of blasphemy to describe or…
The JRB exclusive: Karel Schoeman’s final pilgrimage, detailed in a guesthouse visitors’ book
Before he took his life on the first of May this year, author Karel Schoeman made a final pilgrimage to…
‘Three great hopes for a post-apartheid culture, gone too soon’—Hedley Twidle reflects on Phaswane Mpe, Moses Taiwa Molelekwa and K Sello Duiker
Firepool: Experiences in an Abnormal World Hedley Twidle Kwela, 2017 The following is an excerpt from Firepool: Experiences in an…
Eking out a deeper truth on the rough seas of historical fiction: Wamuwi Mbao reviews Fred Khumalo’s Dancing the Death Drill
Dancing the Death Drill Fred Khumalo Umuzi, 2017 The historical novel presents rough seas for a writer. Attaching a novel…
‘I appreciate stories that mess with me a little’: Yewande Omotoso on her latest book, The Woman Next Door
The Woman Next Door Yewande Omotoso Chatto & Windus, 2017 Yewande Omotoso spoke to Johannesburg Review of Books editor Jennifer…
[Photo Editor] Original portraits by Victor Dlamini: Zakes Mda; and Zakes Mda with Mandla Langa
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. ~~~ Zakes Mda and Mandla…
Finding beauty under apartheid: Interview with Dan Magaziner, and excerpt from his book The Art of Life in South Africa
The Art of Life in South Africa Dan Magaziner UKZN Press, 2017 Main image: Ndaleni group shot, late 1970s, Ndaleni…