[The JRB Daily] 2022 Caine Prize for African Writing shortlist announced—‘a staggering feast’
The shortlist for the 2022 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing, awarded annually for a short story by an African…
Category: International
[The JRB Daily] ‘A laughing elegy, that retains hope in the face of impending doom’—Geetanjali Shree and Daisy Rockwell win 2022 International Booker Prize for Tomb of Sand
Image: International Booker Prize Tomb of Sand, written by Geetanjali Shree and translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell, has been…
[The JRB Daily] 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize regional winners announced—including first-ever win for Eswatini
The regional winners of the 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, known as the ‘world’s most global literary prize’, have been…
[The JRB Daily] ‘There is a myth that there is only one type of storytelling in Africa’—Sarah Isaacs wins inaugural Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa
South African writer Sarah Isaacs has won the inaugural Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa with her manuscript…
[The JRB Daily] Short Story Day Africa announce 12 writers selected for 2022 Inkubator project
The twelve writers selected for the first Short Story Day Africa Inkubator project have been announced. 36 Short Stories, 12…
‘Your story told by someone else might in the end be richer’—Wamuwi Mbao reviews Culture and Liberation, the first dedicated collection of Alex La Guma’s exile writing
Culture and Liberation: Exile Writings, 1966–1985Alex La GumaEdited by Christopher J LeeSeagull Books 1966 was an interesting year. Future Trump…
‘Recitatif is cunning in its ability to expose us’—Masiyaleti Mbewe reflects on Toni Morrison’s only short story
To respect this text is to revisit it: Masiyaleti Mbewe reviews the new standalone edition of Toni Morrison’s Recitatif. RecitatifToni…
Tales from Mombasa—Carey Baraka speaks to Khadija Abdalla Bajaber about her award-winning debut novel, The House of Rust
Carey Baraka reviews The House of Rust, the latest tale from Mombasa, land of fables, and chats to its author,…
‘My writing comes alive when I have questions, when I don’t know where I’m headed, when I’m in the dark’—Yewande Omotoso chats to Jennifer Malec about her new novel An Unusual Grief
The JRB’s Editor Jennifer Malec chats to Yewande Omotoso about questions, answers, and her new novel, An Unusual Grief. An Unusual GriefYewande OmotosoCassava,…
‘I was constantly weaving fact and fiction, and blurring truth with fable’—CA Davids chats to Efemia Chela about her new novel How to Be a Revolutionary
Contributing Editor Efemia Chela speaks to CA Davids about her new novel, How to Be a Revolutionary. How to Be a RevolutionaryCA…
Wole Soyinka vs Caroline Davis—The CIA Controversy by Adekeye Adebajo
In 2020, Caroline Davis, a British scholar, now based at England’s University College London, published the book African Literature and…
‘She wonders whether the clothes of our dead look different’—Read an excerpt from Yewande Omotoso’s new novel, An Unusual Grief
The JRB presents an excerpt from An Unusual Grief, the new novel from Yewande Omotoso. An Unusual GriefYewande OmotosoCassava Republic…
[The JRB Daily] ‘Wildly original works of literature that will captivate readers’—2022 International Booker Prize shortlist announced
The six novels shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize have been revealed. The International Booker Prize celebrates ‘the finest…
[The JRB Daily] ‘You have changed my life!’ Three African writers among the winners of the 2022 Windham–Campbell Prizes
Header image: Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, Tsitsi Dangarembga and Emmanuel Iduma. The winners of the 2022 Windham–Campbell Prizes have been announced, including three…
[The JRB Daily] ‘Tracing a ring around the world’—2022 International Booker Prize longlist announced
The thirteen novels longlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize have been revealed. This year’s longlist includes work translated into…
‘No reprieve from the myriad invisible cuts inflicted by a society hostile to the colour of their skin’—Shayera Dark reviews Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström’s In Every Mirror She’s Black
Shayera Dark reviews In Every Mirror She’s Black by Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström. In Every Mirror She’s BlackLọlá Ákínmádé ÅkerströmHead of Zeus,…
‘It was a book I told friends no one would ever read’—Wamuwi Mbao talks to Jason Mott about his National Book Award-winning novel Hell of a Book
Jason Mott, whose Hell of a Book was awarded the National Book Award for Fiction as well as the Sir…
The Granta emails, or How to Write About Africa revisited—notes on catalysing a moment of literary reparations, by Nkiacha Atemnkeng
I cannot count the number of times I’ve read the late Binyavanga Wainaina’s viral Granta essay, ‘How to write about…
‘If there had been any kings in Rwanda, it was better to forget them’—Read an excerpt from Scholastique Mukasonga’s Our Lady of the Nile
The JRB presents an excerpt from Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga, out now in a new edition….
‘To them, being brown was an asset, not a liability. It meant you could always fit in’—Read an excerpt from Wahala, the new novel by Nikki May
The JRB presents an excerpt from Nikki May’s debut novel, Wahala. WahalaNikki MayPenguin Random House, 2022 Read the excerpt: Boo…
[The JRB Daily] Mary Watson wins 2022 Philida Literary Award for ‘an oeuvre of literary excellence’
Mary Watson has been announced as the winner of the 2022 Philida Literary Award. The prize, established by Karina M…
[JRB Daily] ‘A transformative figure in African literature’—Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o wins PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has been announced as one of the winners of this year’s PEN America Literary Awards. Ngũgĩ was…
[The JRB Daily] Top 10 of 2021—a look back at our most popular articles of the year
With our last issue of 2021, the Fiction Issue, The JRB reached the milestone of publishing our 200th individual contributor….
Lindiwe Mabuza, 1938—2021, RIP
‘Poetry is part of the Struggle. You use the armed Struggle; you use political methods … You recite a poem….
[Fiction Issue] ‘Archival Technics’, a new short story by Patrick Flanery
The JRB presents a new short story by Patrick Flanery, which is part of a larger work. Archival Technics They say…
[Fiction Issue] ‘The Capture’, an excerpt from a work in progress by Glenn Diaz
The JRB presents an excerpt from a work in progress by Glenn Diaz. The Capture Sleep was beginning to finally…
[Fiction Issue] An excerpt from ‘Vacation’, a work in progress by Sebastian Murdoch
The JRB presents an excerpt from a work in progress, titled ‘Vacation’, by Sebastian Murdoch. ‘Oh my god, look,’ Sadie…
[Fiction Issue] ‘Khalifa did not suspect with what nostalgia he would remember those days in later life’—Read an excerpt from Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Afterlives
The JRB presents an excerpt from Afterlives, the new novel from Abdulrazak Gurnah, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in…
[Fiction Issue] ‘Sometimes it felt as if I were speaking into a body of water’—Read an excerpt from CA Davids’s new novel How to Be a Revolutionary
The JRB presents an excerpt from How to Be a Revolutionary, the new novel by CA Davids. How to Be…
[Fiction Issue] ‘Prayer was standing in front of me, in panties’—Read an excerpt from the forthcoming collection Anonymous Sex
The JRB presents an excerpt from Anonymous Sex, a forthcoming anthology edited by Hillary Jordan and Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan. Anonymous SexEdited…
[Fiction Issue] ‘He was the sort of writer who saw himself as the carrier of his continent’s honour’—Read an excerpt from Timothy Ogene’s novel Seesaw
The JRB presents an excerpt from Seesaw by Timothy Ogene. SeesawTimothy OgeneSwift Press, 2021 Read the excerpt: My second and…
[Fiction Issue] ‘Filled with blood. She blinked. She closed the book, sighed’—Read an excerpt from James Han Mattson’s Reprieve
The JRB presents an excerpt from Reprieve, the new novel from James Han Mattson. ReprieveJames Han MattsonBloomsbury, 2021 Read the…
[Fiction Issue] ‘The falling man appeared out of nowhere, in the middle of the air, right before Petra’s eyes’—Read an excerpt from Louis Greenberg’s Exposure
The JRB presents an excerpt from Exposure, the new novel from Louis Greenberg. ExposureLouis GreenbergTitan, 2021 Read the excerpt: The…
[Fiction Issue] ‘The past was home. Home meant facing the past’—Read an excerpt from Colleen van Niekerk’s debut novel A Conspiracy of Mothers
The JRB presents an excerpt from A Conspiracy of Mothers by Colleen van Niekerk. A Conspiracy of MothersColleen van NiekerkLittle…
[Fiction Issue] ‘She’d often wondered how that cloak of impenetrable privilege would feel around her shoulders’—Read an excerpt from Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström’s In Every Mirror She’s Black
The JRB presents an excerpt from In Every Mirror She’s Black, the debut novel by Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström. In Every…
[The JRB Daily] ‘A great year for African writing’—Damon Galgut wins the 2021 Booker Prize for Fiction, for his novel The Promise
South African author Damon Galgut has won the 2021 Booker Prize for Fiction for his novel The Promise. The announcement was…
‘Startlingly good’—Wamuwi Mbao reviews Misfits: A Personal Manifesto by Michaela Coel, creator and star of the hit TV show I May Destroy You
Michaela Coel’s Misfits blends an effervescent sense of social realism with a beguiling clarity, writes Wamuwi Mbao. Misfits: A Personal…
‘Often we know ourselves and other people by the stories we construct’—Abdulrazak Gurnah on how to write fiction
Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah received the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, an announcement that came as a welcome surprise to…
[Photo Editor] Greg Tate in Johannesburg by Victor Dlamini
Victor Dlamini is The JRB’s Photo Editor. We feature his work on our Instagram channel. See this ten-year retrospective of his portraits. View this…
‘Nothing, virtually no project, no cultural initiative, was left unbrushed by the CIA reptilian coils’—Wole Soyinka. Read an excerpt from White Malice: The CIA and the Neocolonisation of Africa
The JRB presents an excerpt from Susan Williams’s new book White Malice: The CIA and the Neocolonisation of Africa. White…