The myth of transcendence—Zanta Nkumane reviews Ocean Vuong’s new novel The Emperor of Gladness
Zanta Nkumane reviews Ocean Vuong’s The Emperor of Gladness, a novel not intent on building a new national myth, but…
Category: International
A book that validates Andrée Blouin’s place in the pantheon of African revolutionaries—Shayera Dark reviews My Country, Africa
Shayera Dark reviews the newly published reissue of Andrée Blouin’s autobiography, My Country, Africa, a book that dazzles with insightful…
‘Without the right words, one has failed, which is a devastating feeling’—Jennifer Malec chats to Karen Jennings about her latest novel, Crooked Seeds
The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec chats to Karen Jennings about her new novel, Crooked Seeds, and making your reader’s skin crawl….
‘English is a language I acquired. To make it mine, I had to collapse its rules’—Thabile Makue in conversation with Makhosazana Xaba
This is the ninth in a series of long-form interviews by Patron Makhosazana Xaba to be hosted on The JRB,…
New poetry by Rustum Kozain
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents previously unpublished poetry by Rustum Kozain. ~~~ The greatest love I believe the children are our future,…
New poetry by Sarah Uheida, from Not This Tender
The JRB presents an excerpt from Not This Tender, a new poetry collection by Sarah Uheida. Sarah UheidaNot This TenderDryad…
‘Friendship has splendours that love knows not’—Read an excerpt from a new edition of Mariama Bâ’s So Long a Letter
The JRB presents an excerpt from So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ, part of Apollo Africa’s new collection of…
‘My ultimate overpacked beach bite has to be a pilchard sandwich’—Read an excerpt from Pravasan Pillay’s offbeat new food memoir Curry and Bread
The JRB presents an excerpt from Curry and Bread, Pravasan Pillay’s new memoir. Curry and BreadPravasan PillayDye Hard Press, 2025…
Men’s livelihoods are only one aspect of what it means to make a life—Read an excerpt from Making a Life: Young Men on Johannesburg’s Urban Margins
The JRB presents an excerpt from Making a Life: Young Men on Johannesburg’s Urban Margins by Hannah J Dawson. Making…
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, 1938—2025, RIP
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, literary giant and cultural revolutionary, died on 28 May, 2025, aged eighty-seven. Ngũgĩ was one of Africa’s…
A profoundly beautiful exploration of what ageing means for those who lived in compact with racial separation—Wamuwi Mbao reviews God’s Waiting Room by Casey Golomski
What does it mean to want grace after such a thing as apartheid? What might it look like? God’s Waiting…
A sparkling reflection on friendship, women’s bodies and the vestiges of colonialism—Shayera Dark reviews Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s new novel Dream Count
Through the characters in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Dream Count, we see our own blind spots and our audacity to hope,…
Storytelling as a point of departure for resistance—Hassana Moosa reviews Isabella Hammad’s new novel Enter Ghost
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad is a powerful portrait of community resilience, recovery and hope in the face of overwhelming…
Omar Badsha: an ordinary South African whose struggles and triumphs offer insights into broader social movements—Sean Jacobs reviews Available Light by Daniel Magaziner
Available Light continues Daniel Magaziner’s significant work in shedding light on the lives of Black artists and intellectuals under apartheid,…
‘An incisive portrait of a society grappling with change’—Jennifer Malec reviews Iris Mwanza’s debut novel The Lions’ Den
The Lions’ Den by Iris Mwanza is a historical thriller that reaches into many different corners of its characters’ lives,…
Read ‘Sweet Meat’, new short fiction by Megan Ross
The JRB presents new short fiction by Megan Ross. Sweet Meat ‘Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing…
Read William Kentridge’s essay ‘It Will Always Be You’, excerpted from Your History with Me: The Films of Penny Siopis, edited by Sarah Nuttall
The JRB presents an excerpt from Your History with Me: The Films of Penny Siopis, edited by Sarah Nuttall. Your…
‘The centre of my world is going to be where I say it is’—An interview with Ellah Wakatama on African publishing, excerpted from Imprint Africa
The JRB presents an interview with Ellah Wakatama, facilitated by Joel Cabrita, excerpted from Imprint Africa: Conversations with African Women…
Read ‘Too Long for Home’, new short fiction by Yanjanani L Banda, from the 2024 Caine Prize anthology Midnight in the Morgue
The JRB presents new short fiction by Yanjanani L Band, which emerged from the Caine Prize workshops, excerpted from the…
‘They began to see that science was not isolated from politics but shaped by it’—Read an excerpt from Our Science, Ourselves by Christa Kuljian
The JRB presents an excerpt from Christa Kuljian’s new book, Our Science, Ourselves: How Gender, Race, and Social Movements Shaped…
What would Fanon say? Read the Preface to Frantz Fanon: Combat Breathing by Nigel C Gibson
The JRB presents an excerpt from Nigel C Gibson’s new book, Frantz Fanon: Combat Breathing. Frantz Fanon: Combat BreathingNigel C…
‘Africans are free only to the extent of breathing’—Read an excerpt from An Ethos of Transdisciplinarity: Conversations with Toyin Falola by Sanya Osha
The JRB presents an excerpt from Sanya Osha’s latest book An Ethos of Transdisciplinarity: Conversations with Toyin Falola. An Ethos…
Read ‘Dog’s Life’, new short fiction by Niq Mhlongo
The JRB presents—exclusively and for the first time in English—a new short story by Niq Mhlongo. This story was first…
‘My pilgrimage to Durban was written before I was born’—Read an excerpt from Roohi Choudhry’s forthcoming debut novel Outside Women
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from Roohi Choudhry’s debut novel Outside Women, which will be published in March 2025….
Poetry by Joan Metelerkamp, from Under dark under branches
The JRB presents an excerpt from Under dark under branches, the new poetry collection by Joan Metelerkamp. Under dark under…
Ambiguous utopias—Hedley Twidle salutes Ursula K Le Guin’s The Dispossessed on its 50th anniversary
Ursula K Le Guin’s masterpiece was published fifty years ago this year. In a literary outtake from his most recent…
‘In Africa, the conservative realism of the military mind met the liberatory spirit of the decolonising mind’—Read an excerpt from Soldier’s Paradise by Samuel Fury Childs Daly
The JRB presents an excerpt from Samuel Fury Childs Daly’s new book, Soldier’s Paradise: Militarism in Africa After Empire. Soldier′s…
[The JRB Daily] Samantha Harvey wins the 2024 Booker Prize for her ‘compact yet beautifully expansive’ novel Orbital
Header image: Courtesy of the Booker Prize British author Samantha Harvey has won the 2024 Booker Prize for her novel Orbital….
An elegant study of friendship amid the rootedness of political exile—Shayera Dark reviews Hisham Matar’s novel My Friends
In My Friends, Hisham Matar hones in on the push and pull of friendships, their guiding light and the cushion-like…
‘I do not recall reading many novels that linger so pornographically over the matter of eating’—Wamuwi Mbao reviews Butter by Asako Yuzuki
Butter is keenly attuned to the many ways the private sphere runs on the disproportionate work of women while deliberately…
The treachery and tenacity of fraternal devotion—Jennifer Malec reviews Sally Rooney’s new novel, Intermezzo
In Intermezzo, sexual tension and spiky wit give way to a deeper sense of tenderness and a lighter brand of…
Ethiopia’s violence in focus—Percy Zvomuya reads regional conflict through the lens of the Tigray War
Percy Zvomuya draws on Martin Plaut and Sarah Vaughan’s valuable new book Understanding Ethiopia’s Tigray War in a reading of…
‘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…
View an excerpt of images from Zanele Muholi’s new book Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness, Vol. II
The JRB presents an excerpt from Zanele Muholi’s new book Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness, Vol. II. Somnyama Ngonyama,…
Read an excerpt from a new edition of Alex La Guma’s A Soviet Journey, including the Foreword by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
The JRB presents an excerpt from a new edition of A Soviet Journey by Alex La Guma: A Critical Annotated…
‘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….
[The JRB Daily] South Korean author Han Kang receives the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to fifty-three-year-old South Korean novelist Han Kang. Han, whose works include The Vegetarian,…
[The JRB Daily] ‘The fault lines of our times are here’—2024 Booker Prize shortlist announced
The 2024 Booker Prize shortlist has been announced, offering ‘a diversity of perspective, style and subject matter’. First awarded in…
[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…
[The JRB Daily] Caine Prize reveals 2024 shortlist, and plans to ‘re-centre the announcement on the African continent’
The shortlist for the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing, awarded annually for a short story by an African writer…