[The JRB Daily] 2022 Sunday Times Literary Awards longlists announced
The longlists for the 2022 Sunday Times Literary Awards have been revealed. The two awards—the Non-fiction Award and the Fiction…
Category: News
[The JRB Daily] ‘Talent that will no doubt take the world by storm’—Ntsika Kota becomes first writer from Eswatini to win global Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Ntsika Kota has been announced as the overall winner of the 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, making history as the…
[The JRB Daily] ‘This is absurd, I don’t win things’—Ruth Ozeki awarded 2022 Women’s Prize for Fiction for The Book of Form and Emptiness
American–Canadian author, filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki has been announced as the winner of the 2022 Women’s Prize…
[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…
[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…
[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] 2022 Humanities and Social Sciences Awards winners announced—‘casting a celebratory light on those whose work often goes unnoticed’
Image: The 2022 HSS Awards winners. Back, from left: Aryan Kaganof, Natalia Molebatsi, Napjadi Letsoalo, Thulasizwe Simpson, Nthikeng Mohlele, Mandla…
[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…
[The JRB Daily] 2022 English Academy of Southern Africa Awards winners announced
The full list of winners of the English Academy of Southern Africa Awards for writing have been announced. Founded in…
Lindiwe Mabuza, 1938—2021, RIP
‘Poetry is part of the Struggle. You use the armed Struggle; you use political methods … You recite a poem….
[The JRB Daily] Johann de Lange turns down South African Literary Award
Poet Johann de Lange has turned down his 2021 South African Literary Award, calling the prizes ‘meaningless and worthless’ (‘betekenis…
[The JRB Daily] Winners of the inaugural Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards announced
The winners of the first ever Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards have been announced. The awards recognise Namibian writers, poets…
[The JRB Daily] 2021 South African Literary Awards winners announced
The winners of the 2021 South African Literary Awards have been announced. The winning writers were announced in a virtual…
[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…
[The JRB Daily] 2021 UJ Prizes for South African Writing in English winners announced
The winners of the University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in English have been announced—and it’s a clean sweep for…
[The JRB Daily] ‘I thought it was a prank, I really did’—Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah wins 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature
The 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah. Gurnah becomes the first Black African…
[The JRB Daily] 2021 South African Literary Awards shortlists revealed
The shortlists for the 2021 South African Literary Awards have been announced. Now in their sixteenth year, the SALAs are…
[The JRB Daily] Marguerite Poland and Andrew Harding win the 2021 Sunday Times/CNA Literary Awards
The winners of the 2021 Sunday Times/CNA Literary Awards have been announced. The awards celebrate ‘the best of South African…
[The JRB Daily] The 2021 Booker Prize for Fiction shortlist is announced—including Damon Galgut and Nadifa Mohamed
The 2021 Booker Prize shortlist has been revealed—and includes two African authors for the second time in as many years:…
[The JRB Daily] ‘It is the book I never thought I would get to write. I never thought I’d be well enough’—Susanna Clarke wins 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction for Piranesi
Susanna Clarke has been announced as the winner of the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction, for her second novel Piranesi….
[The JRB Daily] Thando Mgqolozana, founder of Abantu Book Festival, accused of intimate partner abuse
Update: Mgqolozana has responded to the allegations in a video posted on Facebook and Twitter. See below. On Saturday, 21…
[The JRB Daily] 2021 Booker Prize longlist announced—including Damon Galgut, Karen Jennings and Nadifa Mohamed
The 2021 Booker Prize longlist has been announced, with this year’s crop of thirteen novels described by the judges as…
[The JRB Daily] Meron Hadero wins the 2021 Caine Prize for African Writing—becoming the first Ethiopian writer to take the award
Ethiopian–American writer Meron Hadero has been awarded the 2021 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing, for her short story ‘The…
[The JRB Daily] Tsitsi Dangarembga wins 2021 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade for her ‘inimitable storytelling’
Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangarembga, who recently won the PEN Pinter Prize, has been awarded the 2021 Peace Prize of the German…
[The JRB Daily] South African poet Maneo Refiloe Mohale wins Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry
South African poet Maneo Refiloe Mohale was recently named the winner of the African Poetry Book Fund’s 2020 Glenna Luschei…
[The JRB Daily] Short Story Day Africa Prize ‘Disruption’ winners announced—judges impressed with the ‘calibre and imaginative reach’ of the stories
The winners of the 2020/21 Short Story Day Africa Prize have been announced. Header image: Idza Luhumyo (winner), Mbozi Haimbe…
[The JRB Daily] 2021 Sunday Times/CNA Literary Awards shortlists announced
The shortlists for the 2021 Sunday Times/CNA Literary Awards have been revealed. The awards celebrate ‘the best of South African…
[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…
[The JRB Daily] 2021 Caine Prize for African Writing shortlist announced—‘the true art of African storytelling manifested’
Image: The Caine Prize The shortlist for the 2021 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing, awarded annually for a short…
Tony Morphet, 1940—2021, RIP
Tony Morphet, who died in Cape Town on 2 May, aged eighty-one, led a professional life—as teacher, university lecturer and…
[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…
[The JRB Daily] Short Story Day Africa Prize ‘Disruption’ shortlist announced—featuring 8 African writers from 5 countries
The shortlist for the seventh Short Story Day Africa Prize has been announced, the JRB can exclusively reveal! The prize was…
Ronnie Govender, 1934—2021, RIP
Renowned activist, writer, playwright and director Ronnie Govender has died, aged eighty-six. He passed away in Cape Town on 29…
[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…
[The JRB Daily] 2021 Sunday Times/CNA Literary Awards longlists announced
The longlists for the 2021 Sunday Times/CNA Literary Awards have been revealed. The awards celebrate ‘the best of South African…
[The JRB Daily] ‘Urgent, energetic and wildly original’—2021 International Booker Prize shortlist announced
The six novels shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize have been revealed. The International Booker Prize celebrates ‘the finest…