There is something permanent about how Johannesburg reveals itself to anyone arriving in it, etching itself into the memory, even…
Cities and mining Underneath Johannesburg, imagine hollow cities, stretching from Soweto all the way to Turffontein, and further. As the…
On Sundays, in downtown Johannesburg, on the edge of Hillbrow, encroaching into Braamfontein, queues of worshippers fill out the streets,…
The JRB presents an excerpt from A Home on Vorster Street: A Memoir by Razina Theba. A Home on Vorster…
Re-mapping the city by suicide. Tiny dots of what is left when we die etched into the urban cartography. Souls…
The JRB presents an excerpt from Trevor Ngwane’s forthcoming book Amakomiti: Grassroots Democracy in South African Shack Settlements. Amakomiti: Grassroots…
The man at the bottom of Johannesburg Road in Highlands North, where Berkswell Road intersects it, punching it from the…
The JRB presents an excerpt from City Editor Niq Mhlongo’s new novel, Paradise in Gaza, out on 20 October 2020…
Almost every city has been built more than once. Each phase complete with its own architecture and infrastructure and, for…
Melville’s legendary haunt Xai Xai is for writers part restaurant, part sanctuary, writes guest City Editor Lidudumalingani. In Kazuo Ishiguro’s…
Whatever writing emerges from this moment will be an attempt to build a new Johannesburg, writes guest City Editor Lidudumalingani….
Johannesburg is a city that dances on the edges of elusive, and yet somehow Santu Mofokeng managed to contain it…
As part of our January Conversation Issue, Itumeleng Molefi reflects on Mona Eltahawy’s keynote address and conversation with Pumla Dineo…
As part of our January Conversation Issue, guest City Editor Lidudumalingani chats to Outlwile Tsipane about the literatures of Johannesburg….
Those who temporarily abandon Johannesburg this December—and those who stay while pining for home—must know that the city is theirs,…
The JRB presents an excerpt from Politics and Community-Based Research: Perspectives from Yeoville Studio, Johannesburg. Politics and Community-Based Research: Perspectives…
Celebrated novelist and playwright Harry Kalmer has died, at the age of sixty-two. Kalmer passed away on 26 July 2019,…
The JRB Patron Ivan Vladislavić chats to Editor Jennifer Malec about memory, nostalgia and his latest novel, The Distance. Ivan…
The JRB Contributing Editor Panashe Chigumadzi presents a new reading of the work, career and life of Dorothy Masuka, arguing that…
There’s a film that stands the test of time and still resonates with my friends and me: The Shawshank Redemption….
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from The Distance, the forthcoming novel by Ivan Vladislavić. Vladislavić is an award-winning novelist, short story…
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from Nthikeng Mohlele’s new novel, Illumination, and a short interview with the author. Mohlele,…
Header image (left to right): Nozizwe Cynthia Jele, Niq Mhlongo, Siyamthanda Skota, Yanele Nyamela, Phindile Mokoena, Outlwile Tsipane and Mũkoma…
The cover image for the November 2018 issue of The JRB is excerpted from the new book Johannesburg Then and…
The shortlists for the 2017 University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in English have been announced. Unlike most…
VS Naipaul, who died aged eighty-five on Saturday, spent some months in South Africa in 2009, researching his final book….
Harry Kalmer won the 2018 Barry Ronge Fiction Prize recently, for his novel A Thousand Tales of Johannesburg. He chatted to…
A major change is happening on the South African literary landscape, and it has its roots in the formation of…
‘Johannesburg is a fragmented city. It is not a place of smoothly integrated parts. And it has a name that…
‘I dedicate this win to my mother and my father, who never went to school. It just shows what…
Zinzi Clemmons was in South Africa recently on a book tour for her debut novel, What We Lose. She sat…
Award-winning author Imraan Coovadia chats to The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec about his new novel, A Spy in Time. A Spy…
Many case officers liked to take a tablet to turn white, believing that it made the job easier. I think…
Author Zinzi Clemmons, who is in Johannesburg on a book tour, sat down with The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec today…
The JRB City Editor Niq Mhlongo and Zukiswa Wanner have both just published new books—Soweto, Under the Apricot Tree and…
Artist William Kentridge and author Denis Hirson appeared in a public conversation at the Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, in February, to…
The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec chatted to City Editor Niq Mhlongo about the banning of Inxeba, writing to music, and his brand…
The JRB is proud to present new fiction from our City Editor, Niq Mhlongo, from his forthcoming short story collection,…
The second annual Abantu Book Festival kicked off in Soweto today, and festival director Thando Mgqolozana emphasised the event’s focus…
Sisonke Msimang, who grew up in exile, describes her first visit to South Africa in December 1990, the year Nelson…
