[The JRB Daily] Sign up for Read This!—a new voice note show, hosted by The JRB and Volume
The Johannesburg Review of Books and Volume have launched a new books show called Read This!, where you can discover…
Category: News
Harry Kalmer, 1956—2019, RIP
Celebrated novelist and playwright Harry Kalmer has died, at the age of sixty-two. Kalmer passed away on 26 July 2019,…
[The JRB Daily] 9mobile Prize Board of Patrons announce resignation—statement by Ama Ata Aidoo, Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, Margaret Busby, Sarah Ladipo Manyika, Zakes Mda and Dele Olojede
The JRB has received a statement from the Board of Patrons of the 9mobile Prize for Literature, indicating their resignation…
[The JRB Daily] 9mobile releases statement confirming that a winner for the 2018 9mobile Prize for Literature will be announced
Telecommunications company 9mobile has sent out a press release clarifying—to a point—the status of the 9mobile Prize for Literature, one…
[The JRB Daily] 2019 Booker Prize longlist announced—including two African authors, Oyinkan Braithwaite and Chigozie Obioma
The 2019 Booker Prize longlist has been announced—described by the judges as ‘bold’, ‘lyrical’, ‘very diverse’ and ‘quite wild’. First…
[The JRB Daily] 2019 Sunday Times Literary Awards shortlists announced—celebrating ‘the best of South African non-fiction and fiction’
The shortlists for the 2019 Sunday Times Literary Awards have been revealed! The duo of awards—the Alan Paton Award for…
[The JRB Daily] Tade Thompson’s Rosewater wins Arthur C Clarke Award, the UK’s most prestigious prize for science fiction
British-born Yoruba writer Tade Thompson has won the 33rd Arthur C Clarke Award for his novel Rosewater. The Arthur C…
Moses Mtileni, 1983—2019, RIP
Writer and publisher Moses Nzama Khaizen Mtileni has died, at the age of thirty-six. Mtileni was shot and fatally wounded…
[The JRB Daily] Nigerian writer Lesley Nneka Arimah wins the 2019 Caine Prize—‘We African writers must centre the African gaze’
Lesley Nneka Arimah has won the twentieth edition of the Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story ‘Skinned’….
[The JRB Daily] 2018 Short Story Day Africa shortlist announced—‘we’ve never seen such a photo finish’
The shortlist for the Short Story Day Africa Prize for Short Fiction has been announced. The JRB is delighted that our regular…
Nigerian writer Elnathan John wins 2019 Prix Les Afriques for the French translation of his novel Born on a Tuesday
Nigerian novelist Elnathan John and his French translator Céline Schwaller have been awarded the Prix Les Afriques for Né un…
[The JRB Daily] Download Short Story Day Africa’s anthology ID for free and celebrate the shortest day of the year with dynamic African short fiction
Short Story Day Africa is celebrating the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere, with…
[The JRB Daily] Debut novelist Emily Ruskovich wins International Dublin Literary Award, the world’s most valuable annual literary prize, for her book Idaho
American author Emily Ruskovich has won the 2019 International Dublin Literary Award, known as ‘the world’s richest annual literary prize’,…
[The JRB Daily] The mysterious demise of the 9mobile/Etisalat Prize for Literature—the world’s biggest Pan-African book award
Sharp-eyed book lovers will have noticed that the winner of the 2018 9mobile Prize—one of literature’s most important international awards—has…
[The JRB Daily] Novuyo Rosa Tshuma’s debut novel House of Stone shortlisted for inaugural Orwell Prize for Political Fiction
The shortlists for the Orwell Prizes, which aim to ‘make political writing into an art’, have been announced. Zimbabwean writer…
[The JRB Daily] Koleka Putuma’s Collective Amnesia announced as winner of the 2018 Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry
Koleka Putuma has won the African Poetry Book Fund’s 2018 Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry, for her collection Collective…
[The JRB Daily] Tayari Jones wins the Women’s Prize for Fiction for her ‘exquisitely intimate’ novel An American Marriage
Tayari Jones has been announced as the winner of the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction for her novel An American…
[The JRB Daily] ‘Globally inspiring’ NB Publishers wins AAP International Freedom to Publish Award for Jacques Pauw’s book The President’s Keepers
NB Publishers has been awarded the prestigious AAP International Freedom to Publish Award for Jacques Pauw’s book The President’s Keepers. The…
Cameroonian author Djaïli Amadou Amal wins €10,000 Prix Orange du livre en Afrique for her novel Munyal, les larmes de la patience
Munyal, les larmes de la patience by Cameroonian author Djaïli Amadou Amal has won the first Prix Orange du livre…
[The JRB Daily] OluTimehin Adegbeye wins the 2019 Gerald Kraak Prize for her essay ‘Mothers and Men’
OluTimehin Adegbeye has won the R25 000 Gerald Kraak Prize, which honours African writing and photography that ‘provokes thought on…
[The JRB Daily] Jokha Alharthi and Marilyn Booth win the 2019 Man Booker International Prize for Celestial Bodies
Celestial Bodies by Omani novelist Jokha Alharthi, translated by Marilyn Booth, has been announced as the winner of the 2019…
Binyavanga Wainaina, 1971–2019, RIP
Kenyan author and activist Binyavanga Wainaina has died, at the age of forty-eight. Wainaina passed away at 10 pm on…
[The JRB Daily] 2019 Writivism Short Story Prize and Koffi Addo Prize for Creative Non-fiction shortlists announced
The shortlists for the 2019 Writivism Short Story Prize and the Koffi Addo Prize for Creative Non-fiction have been announced….
[The JRB Daily] Call for submissions from African writers: The Nalubaale Review, a literary magazine based in Uganda
The Nalubaale Review, a literary magazine based in Uganda, is calling for submissions of short stories, poems, essays, journals and photography…
[The JRB Daily] Commonwealth Short Story Prize announces all-women shortlist of regional winners—Africa’s winner is Zambian writer Mbozi Haimbe
The regional winners of the 2019 Commonwealth Short Story Prize have been announced: five stories that ‘tackle big issues’ with ‘a…
New official « Dictionnaire des francophones » will compile the varieties of French spoken around the world
Every French-speaking traveller knows it better than anyone else: the French language is the same, but each time different, on…
[The JRB Daily] Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist revealed—‘a diverse range of voices and nationalities’
The shortlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, awarded annually to the ‘best, eligible full-length novel in English’ by a woman,…
[The JRB Daily] 2019 Sunday Times Literary Awards longlists announced
The longlists for the 2019 Sunday Times Literary Awards have been revealed! The duo of awards—the Alan Paton Award for…
[The JRB Daily] 2019 Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlist announced, including writers from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia
The shortlist for the 2019 Commonwealth Short Story Prize has been announced. South African writer Alex Latimer and South Africa-based…
[The JRB Daily] 2019 Man Booker International Prize shortlist announced—an all-female list of translators, alongside five female authors
The shortlist for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize, celebrating the ‘finest works of translated fiction from around the world’, has…
English translation published of Yolande Mukagasana’s personal testimony of the Rwandan Genocide, Not My Time To Die
Kigali-based Huza Press has just released the English translation of Yolande Mukagasana’s Not My Time To Die, translated by Zoe Norridge….
[The JRB Daily] 2019 Man Booker International Prize longlist announced—women and independent publishers dominate
The longlist for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize has been announced. Thirteen novels are in contention for the prize,…
[The JRB Daily] 2018 Short Story Day Africa Prize longlist announced
The longlist for the Short Story Day Africa Prize for Short Fiction has been announced. The prize was founded in…
I’d Kill For Some Sleep: Tahar Ben Jelloun’s novel L’insomnie tackles a modern malady
«S’il vous plaît … un petit peu de sommeil … un petit peu de cette douce et agréable absence ……
[The JRB Daily] AfroYoungAdult talent search selection announced—stories from the world’s oldest continent with the youngest population
The Goethe-Institut Sub-Saharan Africa has announced the selection for the AfroYoungAdult project. The project was launched last year, with the…
Véronique Tadjo announced as head judge of the Prix Orange du Livre en Afrique francophone
Ivorian author Véronique Tadjo has been announced as the head judge of the new Prix Orange du Livre en Afrique…
Hugh Lewin, 1939–2019, RIP
Journalist, author and anti-apartheid activist Hugh Lewin has died, aged seventy-nine. Lewin passed away at his home in Killarney, Johannesburg…
[The JRB Daily] Top 10 of 2018—A look back at our most popular articles of the year
This December marked the twentieth issue of The JRB, and the twelfth of the year. With the festive season reaching…
Justin Cartwright, 1945–2018, RIP
Acclaimed South African novelist Justin Cartwright has died, aged seventy-three. Cartwright passed away on Monday, 3 December, according to The…
Ivorian author Armand Gauz wins 2018 Prix-Ivoire for his novel Camarade Papa
Ivorian Armand Gauz has won the 2018 Prix-Ivoire for his sublime historical fiction novel Camarade Papa. The action is set in…