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…
The third issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books is here, with some big reviews, in-depth interviews and quality ruminations…
The White Road, the chilling new thriller by Sarah Lotz, is out in June locally from Jonathan Ball Publishers. The…
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness Arundhati Roy Hamish Hamilton/Penguin Random House, 2017 Algebra. For the last twenty years Arundhati Roy…
The JRB presents new short fiction by Julie Nxadi. Love Back Kwathi kaloku ngantsomi, there were clouds too lazy to…
Having been here for three weeks now, I think it should be considered an act of blasphemy to describe or…
Firepool: Experiences in an Abnormal World Hedley Twidle Kwela, 2017 The following is an excerpt from Firepool: Experiences in an…
What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky Lesley Nneka Arimah Riverhead Books, 2017 Lesley Nneka Arimah’s debut collection of short stories,…
Dancing the Death Drill Fred Khumalo Umuzi, 2017 The historical novel presents rough seas for a writer. Attaching a novel…
The Woman Next Door Yewande Omotoso Chatto & Windus, 2017 Yewande Omotoso spoke to Johannesburg Review of Books editor Jennifer…
La Shamba is a newly launched South to South writing collaboration project bringing a diversity of language and viewpoints to…
Fiston Mwanza Mujila has been awarded the The German International Literature Award for the German translation of his novel, Tram 83. Since…
Zakes Mda was the keynote speaker at the Sunday Times Literary Awards last night. Mda won the Barry Ronge Fiction…
Zakes Mda and Greg Marinovich were announced as the winners of the 2017 Sunday Times Literary Awards last night. The awards…
Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa has won the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award for his novel A General Theory of…
Lambda Literary, an organisation advancing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) literature, has announced the winners of the 29th Annual…
Bestselling Israeli writer David Grossman has won the 2017 Man Booker International Prize for his ‘ambitious high-wire act of a…
The shortlists for the 2016 University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in English have been announced, with works…
The second issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books is here—replete with some of the finest writing on books and…
A new edition of Achmat Dangor’s acclaimed novel Bitter Fruit is out soon from Picador Africa, ahead of the publication…
Black Moses Alain Mabanckou Serpent’s Tail 2017 (Man Booker International Prize finalist) A young man visits a doctor in the…
Lidudumalingani won the 2016 Caine Prize for African Writing for his short story ‘Memories We Lost’. As part of the…
Season of Crimson Blossoms Abubakar Adam Ibrahim Cassava Republic Press/Pan Macmillan South Africa 2016 Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, winner of the…
Percy Zvomuya reviews The Beggars’ Strike, by Senegalese author Aminata Sow Fall, first published in English in 1981. The Beggars’…
One morning at the beginning of February 2009 I was approached by Indra Wussow, founder and curator of The Sylt…
The House of Hunger Dambudzo Marechera First published Pantheon Books 1978; this edition Heinemann African Writers Series 2009 We knew…
Exclusive to The JRB, new short fiction by Kenyan writer Idza L excerpted from Queer Africa 2, courtesy of MaThoko’s Books,…
Season of Crimson Blossoms Abubakar Adam Ibrahim Cassava Republic Press/Pan Macmillan South Africa 2016 The JRB recorded this reading by…
Period Pain Kopano Matlwa Jacana Media 2017 Kopano Matlwa burst onto the literary scene in 2007 with the publication of…
The JRB’s City Editor, Niq Mhlongo, gave Johannesburg’s vibrant arts precinct, Maboneng, its name. Here is an excerpt from his…
Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? Kathleen Collins Granta 2017 Black women as you have never seen them before, on screen…
Pan Macmillan South Africa, one of South Africa’s leading publishers, does not as a rule accept unsolicited manuscripts, but has an open…
1. Chinua Achebe, modernist What might it mean to offer a suite of lectures on Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart…
Update: Naomi Alderman has since been announced as the winner of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction The Power Naomi…
Ghanaian novelist and poet B Kojo Laing passed away on Thursday, 20 April 2017 in Ghana. The JRB gathered tributes…
La Revanche de Bozambo / Bozambo’s Revenge Bertène Juminer Présence Africaine, 1968 (French ed.)/Three Continents Press, 1968 (English ed.) Submission…
Easy Motion Tourist Leye Adenle Cassava Republic Press/Pan Macmillan South Africa 2016 1. On September 21st 2015, a Monday, a…
Swing Time Zadie Smith Penguin Books 2016 Behold the Dreamers Imbolo Mbue HarperCollins 2017 1. Zadie Smith’s new novel, Swing…
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. ~~~ Author Binyavanga Wainaina, photographed…
Easy Motion Tourist Leye Adenle Cassava Republic Press/Pan Macmillan South Africa 2016 The JRB recorded this reading by Leye Adenle…
Congratulations are in order: Sudanese author Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin’s novel Le Messie du Darfour has won the 2017 Prix du livre engagé…