[The JRB Daily] 2023 Sunday Times Literary Awards shortlists announced
The shortlists for the 2023 Sunday Times Literary Awards have been revealed. The two awards—the Non-fiction Award and the Fiction…
Category: News
[The JRB Daily] ‘Vibrant, nervy, electric, astonishing’ 2023 Booker Prize shortlist announced
The 2023 Booker Prize shortlist has been announced, offering ‘a sense of timelessness even while saying something about how we…
[The JRB Daily] 2023 UJ Prizes for South African Writing in English winners announced
Header image: CA Davids and Pulane Mlilo Mpondo The winners of the University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in…
[The JRB Daily] Shortlists announced for 2023 UJ Prizes for South African Writing in English
The shortlists for the annual University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in English have been announced. The UJ…
[The JRB Daily] ‘A list to bring wonder’—2023 Booker Prize longlist announced, including Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ and Tan Twan Eng
The 2023 Booker Prize longlist has been announced, offering ‘startling portraits of the current’. The thirteen longlisted books explore ‘universal…
[The JRB Daily] 2023 Caine Prize for African Writing shortlist announced, showcasing ‘the depth and scope of writing on the continent and beyond’
The shortlist for the 2023 Caine Prize for African Writing, awarded annually for a short story by an African writer…
[The JRB Daily] Barbara Kingsolver becomes first two-time winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction for her ‘deeply powerful’ novel Demon Copperhead
Barbara Kingsolver has won the 2023 Women’s Prize for Fiction for her novel Demon Copperhead. With the win, Kingsolver becomes…
[The JRB Daily] ‘A brilliant novel, full of irony and melancholy’—Georgi Gospodinov becomes first ever Bulgarian to win the International Booker Prize, for Time Shelter
Author Georgi Gospodinov and translator Angela Rodel have been announced as the winners of the 2023 International Booker Prize for…
[The JRB Daily] 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize regional winners announced—including this year’s youngest winner Hana Gammon from South Africa
Header image (l to r, top to bottom): Hana Gammon, Agnes Chew, Rue Baldry, Kwame McPherson, Himali McInnes The regional…
[The JRB Daily] ‘Emotional, intellectual and literary depth’—shortlist announced for the 2023 Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa
Image: Aganaba, Jesudubami Jemima; Reem Gaafar; Andile MaShandu Cele The shortlist for the 2023 Island Prize for a Debut Novel from…
[The JRB Daily] Three African writers—Jacob M’hango, ’Pemi Aguda and Arinze Ifeakandu—awarded prestigious O Henry Prize for Short Fiction
Zambian writer Jacob M’hango and Nigerian writers ’Pemi Aguda and Arinze Ifeakandu are among the winners of the prestigious O…
[The JRB Daily] ‘Ambitious, eclectic and hard-hitting’—shortlist announced for 2023 Women’s Prize for Fiction
The shortlist for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced. Half of this year’s list is made up…
[The JRB Daily] ‘These books are all bold, subversive, nicely perverse’—2023 International Booker Prize shortlist announced
The six novels shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize have been revealed, including Guadeloupian author Maryse Condé, described by…
[The JRB Daily] 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlist announced—including six new writers from Africa
Header image: Africa Region shortlistees Buke Abduba, Josiah Mbote, HB Asari, Michael Boyd, Hana Gammon, Matshediso Radebe The shortlist for…
[The JRB Daily] ‘Holy ****! Is this real?’ Winners of R3m Windham–Campbell Prizes for fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama announced
The eight winners of the 2023 Windham–Campbell Prizes have been announced. Now in its eleventh year, the Windham–Campbell Prize is one of…
[The JRB Daily] 2023 Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa longlist announced
The writers longlisted for the 2023 Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa have been announced. This literary prize,…
[The JRB Daily] ‘Celebrating the variety and diversity of literary production today’—2023 International Booker Prize longlist announced
The thirteen novels longlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize have been revealed, including Guadeloupian author Maryse Condé, described by…
[The JRB Daily] ‘A glorious celebration of the boundless imagination and creative ambition of women writers’—2023 Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist announced, including Zimbabwean author NoViolet Bulawayo
The longlist for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced, including Zimbabwean novelist NoViolet Bulawayo. The Women’s Prize,…
[The JRB Daily] Nathan Trantraal wins 2023 Philida Literary Award for ‘oeuvre of literary excellence’
Nathan Trantraal has been announced as the winner of the 2023 Philida Literary Award. The prize, established by Karina M…
[The JRB Daily] 2022 South African Literary Awards winners announced
The winners of the 2022 South African Literary Awards (the SALAs) have been announced. The winning writers were announced in…
[The JRB Daily] Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa call for submissions
Submissions for the second annual Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa are now open. This literary prize, founded…
[The JRB Daily] ‘An afterlife noir that dissolves the boundaries of life and death, east and west’—Shehan Karunatilaka wins 2022 Booker Prize for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
Shehan Karunatilaka has won the 2022 Booker Prize for Fiction for his novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. Karunatilka…
[The JRB Daily] Annie Ernaux receives the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature
French author Annie Ernaux has been awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature, the Swedish Academy announced today in Stockholm….
[The JRB Daily] 2022 UJ Prizes for South African Writing in English winners announced
Header image: Mandla Langa, A’Eysha Kassiem and Lisa-Anne Julien The winners of the University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African…
[The JRB Daily] Shortlists announced for 2022 UJ Prizes for South African Writing in English (Plus: winners of Creative Writing in isiZulu and Sesotho sa Leboa, and Literary Translation)
The shortlists for the annual University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in English have been announced. The 2022…
Hilary Mantel, 1952—2022, RIP
Hilary Mantel, the two-time Booker Prize-winning author of the bestselling Wolf Hall trilogy, has died aged seventy, her publisher has…
[The JRB Daily] ‘Powerful’ 2022 Booker Prize shortlist announced—including NoViolet Bulawayo for Glory
The shortlist for the 2022 Booker Prize has been announced, including Zimbabwean author NoViolet Bulawayo. Bulawayo is shortlisted for Glory,…
[The JRB Daily] 2022 Sunday Times Literary Awards shortlists announced
The shortlists for the 2022 Sunday Times Literary Awards have been revealed. The two awards—the Non-fiction Award and the Fiction…
[The JRB Daily] Jacques Coetzee wins 2022 Ingrid Jonker Prize for debut poetry for ‘delicate, deeply felt’ collection An Illuminated Darkness
Jacques Coetzee has been awarded the 2022 Ingrid Jonker Prize for English Poetry for his debut collection An Illuminated Darkness,…
[The JRB Daily] ‘An incandescent story’—Kenyan writer Idza Luhumyo wins 2022 Caine Prize for African Writing
Kenyan writer Idza Luhumyo’s has been awarded the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story ‘Five Years…
Don Mattera, 1935—2022, RIP
Renowned poet, author and anti-apartheid activist Don Mattera has died at the age of eighty-seven. Mattera’s family confirmed that he…
[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…
[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…