‘How to write about everything’—Binyavanga Wainaina on the problems faced by African writers, and how to overcome them
Binyavanga Wainaina spoke eloquently about his writing career and his life, and how the two are intertwined, at Wits University…
Category: International
[Sponsored] Astonishing and brilliant: A State of Freedom, the new novel from Neel Mukherjee
A State of Freedom, the new novel from Neel Mukherjee, will be out from Penguin Random House South Africa this month….
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie named a nouvelle héroïne of literature in France
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been named one of the nouvelle héroïnes of literature by the French newspaper and veritable institution,…
The book that was read around the world: Masande Ntshanga chats about the many versions of his debut novel, The Reactive
Masande Ntshanga’s debut novel, The Reactive, came out from Umuzi in 2014. Since then, it has won international publishing contracts…
Pavel Buys an Ejector Seat: Read an exclusive English excerpt from Richard de Nooy’s new book, Van kleine helden
Richard de Nooy’s new book, Van kleine helden, was launched in the Netherlands earlier this month. He’s currently working on…
[The JRB Daily] 2017 Man Booker Prize longlist announced—no African authors make the cut
The longlist for the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction has been announced. The prize, worth £50,000, was first awarded…
[The JRB Daily] Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie pays touching tribute to Binyavanga Wainaina: ‘A great and rare and genuine talent’
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie paid homage to Binyavanga Wainaina yesterday evening, in a touching message read out at an event at…
[The JRB Daily] Turbulent, hopeful and long overdue: Henrietta Rose-Innes considers transformation in South African literature in the Times Literary Supplement
The United Kingdom release of Henrietta Rose-Innes’s latest novel, Green Lion, is imminent, and to mark the occasion she has written…
[The JRB Daily] Sudanese writer Bushra al-Fadil wins the 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing
Sudanese writer Bushra al-Fadil has won the 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing for his story ‘The Story of the…
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…
[Sponsored] The White Road – the hotly anticipated new book from Sarah Lotz – is out in June
The White Road, the chilling new thriller by Sarah Lotz, is out in June locally from Jonathan Ball Publishers. The…
‘What is the acceptable amount of blood for good literature?’ Panashe Chigumadzi reviews Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness Arundhati Roy Hamish Hamilton/Penguin Random House, 2017 Algebra. For the last twenty years Arundhati Roy…
[City Editor] Niq Mhlongo meets Shaka Zulu at a restaurant in Cologne, Germany
Having been here for three weeks now, I think it should be considered an act of blasphemy to describe or…
‘A dazzling new voice’: Olufunke Ogundimu reviews Lesley Nneka Arimah’s What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky
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,…
‘I appreciate stories that mess with me a little’: Yewande Omotoso on her latest book, The Woman Next Door
The Woman Next Door Yewande Omotoso Chatto & Windus, 2017 Yewande Omotoso spoke to Johannesburg Review of Books editor Jennifer…
‘Les chaussures’: Short fiction by Edwige-Renée Dro from new translation experiment La Shamba
La Shamba is a newly launched South to South writing collaboration project bringing a diversity of language and viewpoints to…
Finding beauty under apartheid: Interview with Dan Magaziner, and excerpt from his book The Art of Life in South Africa
The Art of Life in South Africa Dan Magaziner UKZN Press, 2017 Main image: Ndaleni group shot, late 1970s, Ndaleni…
Keep on Swinging: Fiston Mwanza Mujila’s Tram 83 wins the German International Literature Award
Fiston Mwanza Mujila has been awarded the The German International Literature Award for the German translation of his novel, Tram 83. Since…
[The JRB Daily] Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa wins €100,000 International Dublin Literary Award
Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa has won the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award for his novel A General Theory of…
[The JRB Daily] Rabih Alameddine wins Lambda Literary Award for his novel The Angel of History
Lambda Literary, an organisation advancing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) literature, has announced the winners of the 29th Annual…
[The JRB Daily] Israeli author David Grossman wins Man Booker International Prize for A Horse Walks Into a Bar
Bestselling Israeli writer David Grossman has won the 2017 Man Booker International Prize for his ‘ambitious high-wire act of a…
The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 2 (June 2017)
The second issue of The Johannesburg Review of Books is here—replete with some of the finest writing on books and…
‘Writing is sometimes like a thread that weaves all our hearts into one’: Lidudumalingani reflects on his Caine Prize visit to the United States
Lidudumalingani won the 2016 Caine Prize for African Writing for his short story ‘Memories We Lost’. As part of the…
‘You’re not a rejection machine, you’re a search engine’, or, the art of the literary review: A conversation with Philip Gourevitch
The Paris Review Interviews, a series of conversations with great writers on their art ranging from the 1950s to the…
The anthology we have been waiting for: Panashe Chigumadzi reviews Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? by Kathleen Collins
Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? Kathleen Collins Granta 2017 Black women as you have never seen them before, on screen…
All too exhilarating: Wamuwi Mbao reviews Naomi Alderman’s Baileys Prize-shortlisted sci-fi novel The Power
Update: Naomi Alderman has since been announced as the winner of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction The Power Naomi…
Rest in Power, Pa Kojo: Paying tribute to Kojo Laing
Ghanaian novelist and poet B Kojo Laing passed away on Thursday, 20 April 2017 in Ghana. The JRB gathered tributes…
The limits of counterfactual fiction: Percy Zvomuya reviews Bertène Juminer’s Bozambo’s Revenge and Michel Houellebecq’s Submission
La Revanche de Bozambo / Bozambo’s Revenge Bertène Juminer Présence Africaine, 1968 (French ed.)/Three Continents Press, 1968 (English ed.) Submission…
All you need is luck: Jennifer Malec reviews Zadie Smith’s Swing Time and Imbolo Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers
Swing Time Zadie Smith Penguin Books 2016 Behold the Dreamers Imbolo Mbue HarperCollins 2017 1. Zadie Smith’s new novel, Swing…
[Photo Editor] Two original portraits by Victor Dlamini: Binyavanga Wainaina and Niq Mhlongo
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. ~~~ Author Binyavanga Wainaina, photographed…
Sailing with The Argonauts: A personal history of Christmas, queerness and Maggie Nelson by Efemia Chela
The Argonauts Maggie Nelson Graywolf Press 2016 Actually, no one is inspired by anyone except his own self and his…
Facing up to a techno-feudal world: Richard Poplak reviews Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future
Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future Martin Ford Oneworld 2016 The robots are coming….
Sudanese author Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin wins Prix du livre engagé de la Cène Littéraire for his novel Le Messie du Darfour
Congratulations are in order: Sudanese author Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin’s novel Le Messie du Darfour has won the 2017 Prix du livre engagé…