International

‘The trees of the city provide a subtext for many things’—Salimah Valiani talks to Anna Stroud about her new poetry collection, IGoli/EGoli

Salimah Valiani chats to Anna Stroud about maps, trees and all the ingredients for love one can find in Johannesburg—and…

Book excerpts

‘He cut himself from his country. He had been so proud. But he was damaged by the loss’—Read an excerpt from Lying Perfectly Still by the late Laura Fish

The JRB presents an excerpt from Lying Perfectly Still by Laura Fish, who passed away shortly before her novel’s publication….

Africa

[The JRB Daily] ‘A triumph of language, storytelling and risk-taking’—South African writer Nadia Davids wins 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing

South African writer Nadia Davids has been announced as the winner of the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing! The…

Awards

[The JRB Daily] ‘Global voices, strong voices and new voices’—2024 Booker Prize longlist announced, including American born British–Libyan writer Hisham Matar

The 2024 Booker Prize longlist has been announced, featuring ‘blackly comic page-turners, multigenerational epics, meditations on the pain of exile—plus…

Africa

‘A welcome addition to the growing list of literature centring queer lives in Africa’—Shayera Dark reviews Musih Tedji Xaviere’s debut novel These Letters End in Tears

As a novel centred on lesbian love set in an intensely homophobic country, These Letters End in Tears by Musih…

Academic

Continuities between Tswana worlds and Black world politics—Read an excerpt from Keorapetse Kgositsile and the Black Arts Movement by Uhuru Portia Phalafala

The JRB presents an excerpt from Uhuru Portia Phalafala’s new book, Keorapetse Kgositsile and the Black Arts Movement. Keorapetse Kgositsile…

Africa

‘The dread of Whites and of ghosts loomed in his mind’—Read an excerpt from the new English translation of Louis Timagène Houat’s rediscovered classic The Maroons

The JRB presents an excerpt from the rediscovered classic The Maroons, first published in 1844 and released for the first…

Awards

[The JRB Daily] ‘Both beautiful and uncomfortable, personal and political’—Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann, wins 2024 International Booker Prize

Jenny Erpenbeck’s novel Kairos, translated by Michael Hofmann, has been announced as the winner of the 2024 International Booker Prize….

Fiction

[Conversation Issue] ‘I don’t want to tell my reader what to feel; I want to make them feel’—Tan Twan Eng chats to Jennifer Malec about his new novel The House of Doors

Tan Twan Eng’s third novel, The House of Doors, was longlisted for the Booker Prize, and has just been longlisted…

Academic

‘Powerful drama fused with its cerebral yet emotional writing’—Read Njabulo S Ndebele’s Foreword to the 60th anniversary edition of William ‘Bloke’ Modisane’s Blame Me on History

The JRB presents Njabulo S Ndebele’s Foreword to the new sixtieth-anniversary edition of William ‘Bloke’ Modisane’s Blame Me on History….

Book excerpts

‘This book is being published while Gaza, where I live, is being annihilated’—Read an excerpt from Decolonising the Palestinian Mind by South African–Palestinian author Haidar Eid

The JRB presents an excerpt from Haidar Eid’s new book Decolonising the Palestinian Mind. Decolonising the Palestinian MindHaidar EidInkani Books,…

Africa

[Fiction Issue] ‘They came riding cattle lorries. Their whole world travelling with them’—Read an excerpt from Magogodi oaMphela Makhene’s Innards

The JRB presents an excerpt from ‘7678B Old Potchefstroom Road’, from Innards, the debut short story collection by Magogodi oaMphela…

Africa

An enigma called Christopher Okigbo—Sanya Osha reflects on the visionary and paradoxical poet (including an interview with his biographer Obi Nwakanma)

Once one experiences the phenomenal power of Christopher Okigbo’s poetry, it seems the reverberations persist throughout one’s creative life, writes…

Book excerpts

‘She puts the worm in her mouth. She swallows it whole. It doesn’t wriggle. Too late now’—Read an excerpt from Lauren Beukes’s new novel, Bridge

The JRB presents an excerpt from Bridge, the new novel from Editorial Advisory Panel member Lauren Beukes. BridgeLauren BeukesPenguin Random House SA, 2023…

Africa

‘The stranger was on his feet, healing impossibly fast, even for what he was’—Read an excerpt from Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ’s award-winning debut novel Dazzling

The JRB presents an excerpt from Dazzling by Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ.  Dazzling Chịkọdịlị EmelụmadụHeadline Publishing Group The Arrival Long Before They…