[Sampler issue] Read an excerpt from Sifiso Mzobe’s new short story collection, Searching for Simphiwe
The JRB presents an excerpt from ‘The Worst That Could Happen’, a short story by Sifiso Mzobe, from his new…
Category: Book excerpts
[Sampler issue] ‘A good pickpocket is also a semiotician’—Read an excerpt from Barbara Adair’s new novel WILL, the Passenger Delaying Flight …
The JRB presents an excerpt from Barbara Adair’s new novel WILL, the Passenger Delaying Flight … WILL, the Passenger Delaying…
[The JRB Daily] [Exclusive] ‘A notice at the cash register with a sad-face emoji reads, “Sorry! Hand Sanitizer Sold Out!”’—Read an excerpt from Lauren Beukes’s prescient new novel Afterland
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from Afterland, the new novel from Editorial Advisory Panel member Lauren Beukes. Afterland is…
As a coronavirus ravages the world, cigarettes become currency—read an excerpt from Deon Meyer’s prophetic post-apocalyptic thriller Fever
The JRB presents an excerpt from Fever by Deon Meyer. FeverDeon Meyer, translated by KL SeegersJonathan Ball Publishers, 2016 Read…
[The JRB exclusive] Read an excerpt from the new African edition of We, the Scarred by Mukoma wa Ngugi
The JRB presents an excerpt from We, the Scarred by Mukoma wa Ngugi. The novel, which tells the story of…
[The JRB Daily] ‘I wanted to release a story from a sealed box I had dragged around for decades’—Read an excerpt from Shaun Johnson’s award-winning novel The Native Commissioner
Award-winning author and renowned anti-apartheid journalist Shaun Johnson has died, aged sixty. Read: Shaun Johnson, 1959—2020, RIP Read an excerpt…
‘You look fancy for a girl who’s just going to the TAB.’ Read ‘The Outsider’ by Isabella Morris, excerpted from Fool’s Gold: Selected Modjaji Short Stories
The JRB presents an excerpt from Fool’s Gold: Selected Modjaji Short Stories, edited by Arja Salafranca. Since its inception in…
[The JRB exclusive] ‘This is not a game of football, it is a slaughter of the innocents!’—Read an excerpt from JM Coetzee’s new novel The Death of Jesus
The JRB presents, exclusively in South Africa, an excerpt from The Death of Jesus, the newly published final novel of…
[Fiction issue] [The JRB exclusive] Read an excerpt from a work in progress by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim
Exclusive to The JRB, an excerpt from a work in progress by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim. ~~~ Dinner was a celebration,…
[Fiction issue] [The JRB exclusive] Read an excerpt from a work in progress by Yewande Omotoso
Exclusive to The JRB, an excerpt from An Unusual Grief, a work in progress by Editorial Advisory Panel member Yewande Omotoso. ~~~ Titus…
[Fiction Issue] Read an excerpt from Sabata-mpho Mokae’s award-winning Setswana novel Moletlo wa Manong
The JRB presents an excerpt from Moletlo wa Manong, the award-winning Setswana novel by Sabata-mpho Mokae. Moletlo wa Manong was…
[Fiction issue] Read an excerpt from Craig Higginson’s forthcoming novel, The Book of Gifts
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Book of Gifts, the forthcoming novel from Craig Higginson. Higginson is the award-winning…
[Fiction issue] Read an excerpt from Sifiso Mzobe’s forthcoming short story collection, Searching for Simphiwe
The JRB presents an excerpt from ‘Ecstasy’, a short story from Sifiso Mzobe’s forthcoming collection, Searching for Simphiwe. Searching for…
[Fiction issue] Read an excerpt from All That Is Left, the forthcoming novel from Kirsten Miller
The JRB presents an excerpt from Kirsten Miller’s forthcoming novel, All That Is Left. All That Is Left will be…
[Fiction issue] Read an excerpt from Alastair Bruce’s forthcoming novel, The Weight of Skin
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Weight of Skin by Alastair Bruce. The Weight of Skin will be published…
[Fiction issue] Read an excerpt from The Eyes of the Naked, the forthcoming debut novel by Litha Hermanus
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Eyes of the Naked, the debut novel by Litha Hermanus. The Eyes of…
[Fiction issue] Read an excerpt from a work in progress by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe
The JRB presents an excerpt from a work in progress by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe. Onyemelukwe’s debut novel, The Son of the…
[Fiction issue] Read an excerpt from Mphuthumi Ntabeni’s forthcoming novel, The Wanderers
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Wanderers, a work in progress by Mphuthumi Ntabeni. Ntabeni’s debut novel, The Broken River…
[Fiction issue] Read an excerpt from Olivia M Coetzee’s ‘page turning, gender- and genre-bending’ Kaaps novel Innie Shadows
The JRB presents an excerpt from Innie Shadows, Olivia M Coetzee’s debut novel, written in Kaaps. Innie ShadowsOlivia M CoetzeeModjaji…
[Fiction issue] Read ‘A Family History in a Passport’ by Yovanka Paquete Perdigao, excerpted from Bakwa 09: Taxi Drivers Who Drive Us Nowhere and Other Travel Stories
The JRB presents an excerpt from Bakwa 09: Taxi Drivers Who Drive Us Nowhere and Other Travel Stories. The excerpted story…
[The JRB exclusive] Read an excerpt from Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other—‘One of my aims as a writer is to explore the hidden narratives of the African diaspora’
The JRB presents an excerpt from Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, co-winner of the 2019 Booker Prize. Girl, Woman,…
‘I would like to be on good terms with all animals.’ Read an excerpt from Zadie Smith’s debut short story collection, Grand Union
The JRB presents an excerpt from Grand Union—the first ever collection of stories by Zadie Smith, the Booker Prize-shortlisted author…
[The JRB exclusive] Read an excerpt from Siphiwo Mahala’s new collection of short stories, Red Apple Dreams
The JRB presents an excerpt from Red Apple Dreams, the new anthology of stories by Siphiwo Mahala. Mahala is the author…
[The JRB exclusive] Read an excerpt from Meanwhile … a new graphic novel anthology about everyday queer life in Southern and East Africa
The JRB presents an excerpt from Meanwhile … Graphic Short Stories About Everyday Queer Life in Southern and East Africa….
Introducing Yeoville—part of the mythology of transitional Johannesburg
The JRB presents an excerpt from Politics and Community-Based Research: Perspectives from Yeoville Studio, Johannesburg. Politics and Community-Based Research: Perspectives…
How Hip Hop is helping a new generation to ‘read the world’—Read an excerpt from Neva Again: Hip Hop Art, Activism and Education in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Hip Hop is producing a new generation of readers and writers in a world that operates in diverse literary forms,…
[The JRB exclusive] ‘It had happened when I was nine years old, the day after my mother was taken and sold’—Read an excerpt from The Water Dancer, the debut novel by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Water Dancer, the debut novel by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the critically acclaimed author of…
Read Siyanda Mohutsiwa’s short story ‘And Then We Disappeared into Some Guy’s Car’, excerpted from the new anthology Botswana Women Write
The JRB presents an excerpt from Botswana Women Write, an anthology of writing by and about Batswana women. Botswana Women…
‘As we sleepwalk ever closer toward climate catastrophe’—An excerpt from Broken Land, the new photobook by Daylin Paul, winner of the Ernest Cole Award
Daylin Paul won the Ernest Cole Award, a photography prize for a prospective project, for his debut work Broken Land…
Voices from the continent with the world’s youngest population—Water Birds on the Lake Shore: An Anthology of African Young Adult Fiction (Plus: Read 3 of the stories)
Exclusive to The JRB, we present three new short stories from the Goethe-Institut Afro Young Adult anthology, Water Birds on…
[New short fiction] Read ‘The Hunter’, a short story by CJ Enemuo, from the new Afro Young Adult anthology Water Birds on the Lake Shore
In the October issue of The JRB, we present three new short stories from the Goethe-Institut Afro Young Adult anthology,…
‘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…
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…
‘Women can bring men flowers too, you know’—Read an excerpt from In Dependence, the bestselling novel by Sarah Ladipo Manyika
The JRB presents an excerpt from In Dependence by Nigerian author Sarah Ladipo Manyika. In Dependence sold three million copies…
[The JRB exclusive] New short fiction: ‘Happy City Hotel’ by Adam El Shalakany, winner of 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…
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…
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 ‘A Stateless Poem’ by Danielle Legros Georges, 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…