[City Editor] South Africa’s cultural game-changers—Niq Mhlongo believes book clubs are changing the literary landscape
A major change is happening on the South African literary landscape, and it has its roots in the formation of…
Category: Fiction
[Photo Editor] Original portraits of Imraan Coovadia and TJ Dema 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: ‘All Our Lives’ by Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor, winner of the 2017 Short Story Day Africa Prize
The JRB is presents the three winning stories from this year’s Short Story Day Africa Prize. Nigerian writer Tochukwu Emmanuel…
New short fiction: ‘The Piano Player’ by Agazit Abate, joint runner-up in the 2017 Short Story Day Africa Prize
The JRB presents the three winning stories from this year’s Short Story Day Africa Prize. Nigerian writer Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor…
New short fiction: ‘God Skin’ by Michael Yee, joint runner-up in the 2017 Short Story Day Africa Prize
The JRB presents the three winning stories from this year’s Short Story Day Africa Prize. Nigerian writer Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor…
[The JRB Daily] Harry Kalmer and Bongani Ngqulunga win Sunday Times Literary Awards
‘I dedicate this win to my mother and my father, who never went to school. It just shows what…
[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…
[The JRB Daily] Irish author Mike McCormack wins ‘world’s richest annual literary prize’ for his one-sentence novel Solar Bones
Irish author Mike McCormack has won the 2018 International Dublin Literary Award for his novel Solar Bones. The 270-page novel…
[The JRB Daily] Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie awarded 2018 PEN Pinter Prize for ‘fierce intellectual determination to define the real truth of our lives and our societies’
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been awarded the 2018 PEN Pinter Prize. The prize is awarded annually to a writer who, in the…
[The JRB Daily] Kamila Shamsie wins 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction for her ‘remarkable’ novel Home Fire
Image: Bloomsbury editor-in-chief Alexandra Pringle, Kamila Shamsie and her literary agent Victoria Hobbs (Credit: Bloomsbury UK) British–Pakistani writer Kamila Shamsie…
One of the decade’s most intriguing works of fiction: Wamuwi Mbao reviews Akwaeke Emezi’s debut novel Freshwater
Akwaeke Emezi’s Freshwater is a striking, startling, butterfly-net of a novel, writes Wamuwi Mbao.
‘Being in South Africa as an author has shifted my perspective’—Zinzi Clemmons chats to The JRB about her debut novel, What We Lose
Zinzi Clemmons was in South Africa recently on a book tour for her debut novel, What We Lose. She sat…
[Temporary Sojourner] Efemia Chela reads Roland Rugero’s Baho!—the first Burundian novel to be translated into English
Ableism and the silent roar: The JRB Francophone and Contributing Editor Efemia Chela travels to Burundi with Roland Rugero’s novel Baho! in The…
‘It’s clearly more harrowing to be time travelling when black’—Imraan Coovadia chats to Jennifer Malec about his new spec-fic novel A Spy in Time
Award-winning author Imraan Coovadia chats to The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec about his new novel, A Spy in Time. A Spy…
A victorious coming-of age novel: Outlwile Tsipane reviews Olumide Popoola’s superb debut, When We Speak of Nothing
Olúmìdé Pópóọlá’s debut novel, When We Speak of Nothing, seems to indicate a blossoming of things to come, writes Outlwile…
Pede Hollist chats to James Murua about his book So the Path Does Not Die and the ‘vibrant’ Sierra Leonean literary scene
Sierra Leonean writer and 2013 Caine Prize shortlistee Pede Hollist was at the Goethe-Institut in Nairobi in May to kick…
How to write when the novel is dead: Jennifer Malec reviews Autumn and Winter—the first two books of Ali Smith’s seasonal quartet
Ali Smith’s seasonal quartet is a lesson in how to create novels that reflect the now in all its glory and…
‘Johannesburg, the first and last city of our century’: Read an exclusive excerpt from Imraan Coovadia’s new novel, A Spy in Time
Many case officers liked to take a tablet to turn white, believing that it made the job easier. I think…
‘I had the nerve to like my hair just the way it was’—Listen to Zinzi Clemmons read from her debut novel What We Lose
Exclusive to The JRB, listen to a recording of Zinzi Clemmons reading from her debut novel, What We Lose. What…
‘The glutton ate the snail and it made his cheeks explode’: Read an excerpt from Baho! by Burundian author Roland Rugero
The JRB is proud to present an excerpt from Roland Rugero’s novel Baho!—the first Burundian novel to be translated from French…
Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ’s novel Nairobi Heat is now available in French as Là où meurent les rêves
« Qu’est-ce que ça te fait à toi, l’homme noir d’Amérique, d’être au Kenya ? » Voilà une question qui taraude l’inspecteur Ishmael….
[The JRB Daily] The Golden Man Booker Prize shortlist announced—the ‘five best Booker Prize winners of all time’
The shortlist for the Golden Man Booker Prize, honouring the best work of fiction from the last five decades of the…
[The JRB Daily] 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlist announced, including Fred Khumalo and Michelle Sacks
The shortlist has been announced for the seventh annual Commonwealth Short Story Prize. The prize is awarded annually to ‘the best…
[The JRB Daily] Olga Tokarczuk’s ‘startling’ novel Flights wins 2018 Man Booker International Prize
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft, has been announced as the winner of the 2018 Man Booker International…
[The JRB Daily] 2018 Barry Ronge Fiction Prize shortlist announced
The shortlists for the Sunday Times Literary Awards have been announced! The Barry Ronge Fiction Prize and the Alan Paton…
[The JRB Daily] [Exclusive] ‘It’s worse than most people think’—Zinzi Clemmons on Junot Díaz and literature’s latest #MeToo moment
Author Zinzi Clemmons, who is in Johannesburg on a book tour, sat down with The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec today…
Historical fiction is back—with a fire in its belly: Fred Khumalo reflects on how writing can be a powerful tool for an activist
Fred Khumalo, whose most recent novel is Dancing the Death Drill, believes past narratives can help shape what is to…
‘We can’t complain about people not buying our books when we aren’t writing for them’: Jennifer Malec chats to bestselling author Dudu Busani-Dube
Dudu Busani-Dube, author of the wildly popular Hlomu series, chats to The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec. Zulu Wedding Dudu Busani-Dube…
[City Editor] Hardly working under the apricot tree in Harare: Niq Mhlongo reports back from his joint book tour with Zukiswa Wanner
The JRB City Editor Niq Mhlongo traveled to Harare recently, for two joint book launches with Zukiswa Wanner. Don’t miss…
Happily-ever-after takes a dark turn: Wamuwi Mbao reviews Julian Barnes’s new novel, The Only Story
The Only Story is Julian Barnes’s thirteenth novel in a career spanning thirty-eight years, but his gift for turning grim…
New short fiction: ‘Gutting Instincts’ by Jarred Thompson
The JRB presents a new short story by Jarred Thompson. Gutting Instincts The ocean had always been a second skin…
New short fiction: ‘A Woman is her Hands’ by Wame Molefhe, from The Gods Who Send Us Gifts: An Anthology of African Short Stories
Exclusive to The JRB, read Wame Molefhe’s short story ‘A Woman is her Hands’, excerpted from The Gods Who Send…
[The JRB Daily] Exclusive to The JRB: Photographs from the protest against the Nobel Prize in Literature sexual harassment scandal
The Swedish Academy, responsible for awarding the Nobel Prize in Literature, is currently being rocked by a sexual abuse and…
[The JRB Daily] Henrietta Rose-Innes shortlisted for 2018 Nommo Award for her short story ‘Snake Story’, featured in The JRB
The African Speculative Fiction Society has announced the nominations for the 2018 Nommo Awards, including two stories by The JRB…
[The JRB Daily] Exclusive to The JRB: ‘I’m going to market the hell out of our stories’—Zukiswa Wanner reveals the details of her new Africa-focused publishing company, Paivapo
Zukiswa Wanner is starting her own publishing company, with a focus on marketing and selling books throughout Africa. Wanner will launch…
[The JRB Daily] 2018 Man Booker International Prize shortlist announced
The shortlist for this year’s Man Booker International Prize has been announced. The Man Booker International celebrates the finest global…
[The JRB Daily] Yewande Omotoso shortlisted for ‘world’s richest annual literary prize’—the International Dublin Literary Award
The shortlist has been announced for the 2018 International Dublin Literary Award, the world’s most valuable annual literary prize for a single…
‘English’s tendency to obliterate other languages does not apply here’—Bwesigye bwa Mwesigire reviews Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s Kintu
Bwesigye bwa Mwesigire reviews Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s Kintu, which was recently awarded a prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize for Fiction. Kintu Jennifer…
‘The argument between Beauty and, perhaps, War’: William Kentridge and Denis Hirson in conversation in Johannesburg
Artist William Kentridge and author Denis Hirson appeared in a public conversation at the Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, in February, to…
Those who migrate remake the places they arrive in: Wamuwi Mbao reviews Mohsin Hamid’s latest novel, Exit West
Mohsin Hamid’s new book, Exit West, is a work of speculative fiction that will be read as ‘The Great Migration…