Africa

‘Putting myself in those blood-soaked shoes was the most difficult thing to contend with’—Robert Jones Jr talks to Efemia Chela about his debut novel The Prophets

Contributing Editor Efemia Chela spoke to Robert Jones Jr about his debut novel, The Prophets. The ProphetsRobert Jones JrQuercus Publishing, 2021 Efemia…

Fiction

A work of fiction that calls to us to rethink Palestine’s ‘normal’—Wamuwi Mbao reviews Against The Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

Wamuwi Mbao reviews Susan Abulhawa’s Against The Loveless World, winner of the Palestine Book Award. Against The Loveless WorldSusan AbulhawaBloomsbury…

Fiction

‘Most of the stories have been told by now, it’s just the ways of telling that are new’—Damon Galgut talks with Mark Gevisser about his new novel, The Promise

Damon Galgut was in conversation with Mark Gevisser recently for the launch of his latest novel, The Promise. This is…

Africa

View an excerpt from African Cosmologies: Photography, Time, and the Other, including work by Zanele Muholi, Hélène A Amouzou and Wilfred Ukpong

The JRB presents an excerpt from African Cosmologies: Photography, Time, and the Other. African Cosmologies: Photography, Time, and the OtherFotofestSchilt…

Africa

‘Temporary madness, in war, is bravery’s sister’—Read an excerpt from David Diop’s International Booker Prize-winning novel At Night All Blood Is Black

The JRB presents an excerpt from At Night All Blood Is Black, recent winner of the International Booker Prize. At…

Africa

[The JRB Daily] ‘It had jangled our emotions and blown our minds’—David Diop and Anna Moschovakis win the 2021 International Booker Prize for At Night All Blood is Black

Image: International Booker Prize At Night All Blood is Black, written by Senegalese–French author David Diop and translated by American…

Africa

[The JRB Daily] 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize regional winners announced—including Rwandan-born Namibian author Rémy Ngamije

Header image: Rémy Ngamije (Namibia), Roland Watson-Grant (Jamaica), Kanya D’Almeida (Sri Lanka), Carol Farrelly (UK), Katerina Gibson (Australia) The regional…

Awards

[The JRB Daily] ‘Women’s fiction at its finest’—shortlist announced for 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction, including Ghanaian–American writer Yaa Gyasi

The shortlist for the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced—featuring six writers who have never been shortlisted for…

International

‘What does it do to you to be the subject of someone else’s imaginative impoverishment?’—Wamuwi Mbao reviews Claudia Rankine’s new book Just Us

Claudia Rankine’s Just Us is perhaps the most profound meditation on race and violence to emerge in the first two…

Academic

Hiding in Plain Sight: Cold War Interventions into African Literature—Bhakti Shringarpure reviews Monica Popescu’s At Penpoint: African Literatures, Postcolonial Studies, and the Cold War

Monica Popescu’s At Penpoint: African Literatures, Postcolonial Studies, and the Cold War is a steadfast engagement with the cultural Cold…

Africa

‘I wanted to explore the “otherness” we feel when we go back home’—Femi Kayode talks to Jennifer Malec about his debut novel, Lightseekers

Femi Kayode chatted to The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec about being ‘other’ in your home country, the nature of evil, and his…

Book excerpts

‘If you must learn to love a man, he is probably not the man you should be loving.’—Read an excerpt from How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones

The JRB presents an excerpt from Cherie Jones’s debut novel How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House, recently longlisted for…

Africa

[The JRB Daily] 2021 International Booker Prize longlist announced—Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o becomes first person to be nominated as both author and translator

The thirteen novels longlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize have been revealed. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has made history this…

International

Poetry as a short circuit in the machine of communication—Lidudumalingani talks to Simon van Schalkwyk about his debut collection, Transcontinental Delay

Guest City Editor Lidudumalingani talks to Academic Editor Simon van Schalkwyk about identity, memory, psychogeography, and his new poetry collection,…

Book excerpts

‘Calls for television grew louder in 1969, after the rest of the world got to see Neil Armstrong walk on the moon’—Read an excerpt from William Dicey’s new book 1986

The JRB presents an excerpt from 1986, the new book by William Dicey. 1986William DiceyPenguin Random House SA, 2021 ~~~…

Academic

Read an excerpt from ‘Buchi Emecheta: The Burden of Exile’ by Louisa Uchum Egbunike, from The Pan-African Pantheon: Prophets, Poets and Philosophers

The JRB presents an excerpt from Louisa Uchum Egbunike‘s chapter examining the life and work of Buchi Emecheta from the…

Book excerpts

[Fiction Issue] ‘I enjoyed occupying blurred lines. Ambiguity was an unsettling yet exhilarating space.’—Read an excerpt from Zaina Arafat’s debut novel, You Exist Too Much

The JRB presents an excerpt from You Exist Too Much, the debut novel from Zaina Arafat. You Exist Too Much…

Africa

[Fiction Issue] ‘Were there places in the world where neighbours would have greeted us instead of turning away?’—Read an excerpt from Yaa Gyasi’s new novel Transcendent Kingdom

The JRB presents an excerpt from Transcendent Kingdom, the new novel by Yaa Gyasi. Transcendent KingdomYaa GyasiViking, 2020 Read the…