[Fiction Issue] Read ‘There’s No Hurry In Botswana’ by Masiyaleti Mbewe
New original fiction in The JRB. ~~~ There’s No Hurry In Botswana By Masiyaleti Mbewe The University of Gaborone’s main…
Category: Zambia
[Fiction Issue] ‘The one thing I cannot give her’— Read ‘Mastitis’ by Mubanga Kalimamukwento, from Now Now: The 2023 Doek Anthology
The JRB presents an excerpt from Mubanga Kalimamukwento’s short story ‘Mastitis’, published in Now Now: The 2023 Doek Anthology. Now…
[The JRB Daily] Three African writers—Jacob M’hango, ’Pemi Aguda and Arinze Ifeakandu—awarded prestigious O Henry Prize for Short Fiction
Zambian writer Jacob M’hango and Nigerian writers ’Pemi Aguda and Arinze Ifeakandu are among the winners of the prestigious O…
[The JRB exclusive] ‘Over the months, we found more and more of Wayne’s drawings, those bundles of thin lines on the walls’—Read an excerpt from Namwali Serpell’s new novel The Furrows
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Furrows: An Elegy, the new novel from award-winning author Namwali Serpell. The FurrowsNamwali…
[The JRB Daily] Short Story Day Africa announce 12 writers selected for 2022 Inkubator project
The twelve writers selected for the first Short Story Day Africa Inkubator project have been announced. 36 Short Stories, 12…
[The JRB Daily] 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlist announced—including writers from Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia and, for the first time, Eswatini
Header image, Africa region shortlist, from top left: Ntsika Kota, Franklyn Usouwa, Dera Duru, Charlie Muhumuza and Mubanga Kalimamukwento The…
New short fiction: ‘Eye Contact’ by Agatha Zaza
The JRB presents a new short story by Agatha Zaza. Eye Contact This will be her husband. Litiya looks carefully at…
‘Whatever Sobhuza does, he ensures that he leaves no trace’—Read an excerpt from Mandla Langa’s forthcoming novel The Lost Language of the Soul
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from The Lost Language of the Soul, the new novel by EAP member Mandla…
[The JRB Daily] [Exclusive] Read ‘Shelter’ by Mbozi Haimbe, 1st Runner-up in the 2019/20 Short Story Day Africa Prize
This week, The JRB is publishing the three winning stories from this year’s Short Story Day Africa Prize. The winners of…
[The JRB Daily] Short Story Day Africa Prize ‘Disruption’ winners announced—judges impressed with the ‘calibre and imaginative reach’ of the stories
The winners of the 2020/21 Short Story Day Africa Prize have been announced. Header image: Idza Luhumyo (winner), Mbozi Haimbe…
[The JRB Daily] Short Story Day Africa Prize ‘Disruption’ shortlist announced—featuring 8 African writers from 5 countries
The shortlist for the seventh Short Story Day Africa Prize has been announced, the JRB can exclusively reveal! The prize was…
‘We touch down, and I pray for the land of my ancestors to be good to me’—Read an excerpt from No Be From Hia by Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda
The JRB presents an excerpt from No Be From Hia, the debut novel by Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda. No Be From…
[The JRB Daily] 2019 Short Story Day Africa Prize ‘Disruption’ longlist announced—featuring 21 African writers from nine countries
This longlist for the seventh annual Short Story Day Africa Prize has been announced! The prize was founded in 2013,…
[The JRB Daily] Namwali Serpell’s The Old Drift wins the 2020 Arthur C Clarke Award
Update 25 Sep 20: Serpell has donated her prize money to bail funds for protestors in the United States who…
[The JRB Daily] Zambian author Namwali Serpell shortlisted for Arthur C Clarke Award, the UK’s most prestigious prize for science fiction
The shortlist for the 34th Arthur C Clarke Award has been announced, including The Old Drift by Zambian author Namwali…
[The JRB Daily] ‘A role model for an entire generation of African writers’—Zukiswa Wanner wins prestigious Goethe Medal, along with Elvira Espejo Ayca and Ian McEwan
Header image: Elvira Espejo Ayca, Zukiswa Wanner and Ian McEwan Writer, publisher and curator Zukiswa Wanner has been awarded the…
[The JRB Daily] 2020 Windham–Campbell Prizes winners announced, including Zambian writer Namwali Serpell
Header image: Top row, left to right: Anne Boyer (non-fiction), Julia Cho (drama), Aleshea Harris (drama), and Bhanu Kapil (poetry);…
[Fiction Issue] ‘The Grass Beneath Us’, a new short story by Agatha Zaza
The JRB presents a new short story by Agatha Zaza. The Grass Beneath Us ‘Let’s start with the heat,’ said…
[The JRB Daily] Commonwealth Short Story Prize announces all-women shortlist of regional winners—Africa’s winner is Zambian writer Mbozi Haimbe
The regional winners of the 2019 Commonwealth Short Story Prize have been announced: five stories that ‘tackle big issues’ with ‘a…
[The JRB Daily] 2019 Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlist announced, including writers from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia
The shortlist for the 2019 Commonwealth Short Story Prize has been announced. South African writer Alex Latimer and South Africa-based…
[The JRB exclusive] Read an excerpt from Mubanga Kalimamukwento’s Dinaane Debut Fiction Award-winning novel, The Mourning Bird
The JRB presents an excerpt from Mubanga Kalimamukwento’s forthcoming novel, The Mourning Bird. The Mourning Bird, which was the winner of this…
[The JRB Daily] 2018 Short Story Day Africa Prize longlist announced
The longlist for the Short Story Day Africa Prize for Short Fiction has been announced. The prize was founded in…
‘From the historical past to the science fictional future’—Namwali Serpell chats to Wamuwi Mbao about her forthcoming debut novel, The Old Drift
Wamuwi Mbao chats to Namwali Serpell about her debut novel, The Old Drift. Namwali Serpell The Old Drift Penguin Random…
[City Editor] Niq Mhlongo overstays his visa in Dar es Salaam, Morogoro and Mbeya
Two problems are gnawing at my heart as we leave Dar es Salaam to Morogoro on the Sunday afternoon of…
[The JRB Daily] Masande Ntshanga, Omar Robert Hamilton, Anietie Isong and Kayo Chingonyi among the winners at the 2018 Society of Authors Authors’ Awards
Five African authors are among the winners of the 2018 Society of Authors Authors’ Awards. The awards distribute the United…
[The JRB Daily] Masande Ntshanga, Omar Robert Hamilton, Anietie Isong and Kayo Chingonyi shortlisted for Society of Authors 2018 Authors’ Awards
Four African authors have been shortlisted for the Society of Authors 2018 Authors’ Awards. South African novelist Masande Ntshanga and…
View from the privileged heights of the JIAS Castle: Zukiswa Wanner and Niq Mhlongo reflect on their writing fellowship
The JRB City Editor Niq Mhlongo and Zukiswa Wanner have both just published new books—Soweto, Under the Apricot Tree and…
[The JRB Daily] 2018 9mobile Prize for Literature longlist announced
The longlist for the 2017 9mobile Prize for Literature (formerly the Etisalat Prize for Literature) has been announced. South African…
[The JRB Daily] The Caine Prize wasn’t what I thought it would be: Efemia Chela traces the real value of big literary prizes
In a piece for the Caine Prize blog titled ‘An Unexpected Prize’, Efemia Chela describes how losing out on the…
‘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…
A guide for writing from the outside in: Sisonke Msimang on how Howard W French maps the road between the Africa of her childhood and the China of her imagination
In his three books on Africa–China relations, Howard W French’s thinking is robust—sometimes forcefully so—and yet fundamentally respectful. A…
[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…