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…
Category: Non-fiction
[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…
‘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…
‘Aggressively, almost wantonly unreadable’—Richard Poplak reviews Jordan B Peterson’s new book Beyond Order: 12 More Rules For Life
While 12 Rules for Life was a snapshot of an intellectual moment, however paltry, Beyond Order is the literary equivalent…
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…
‘Black women’s imaginative works are wreaths lain on the graves of ancestors so that they may not weep.’—Read an excerpt from Panashe Chigumadzi’s essay ‘Hearing the Silence’
The JRB presents an excerpt from a new essay by The JRB Contributing Editor Panashe Chigumadzi, from Surfacing: On Being…
African literature should be free to remain ‘a question to itself’—Lebohang Mojapelo reviews The Rise of the African Novel by Mukoma Wa Ngugi
In The Rise of the African Novel, Mukoma Wa Ngugi traces the way African literature has been a space to…
A Cape tragedy—Stephen Langtry reviews Martin Plaut’s new book Dr Abdullah Abdurahman: South Africa’s First Elected Black Politician
Whether we have learnt from the story of Dr Abdullah Abdurahman remains to be seen, writes Stephen Langtry. Martin Plaut’s…
‘White male mediocrity harms us all.’—Read an excerpt from Ijeoma Oluo’s new book, Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male Power
The JRB presents an excerpt from Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male Power by Ijeoma Oluo, the bestselling author…
‘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 ~~~…
In search of Ken Saro-Wiwa—Read an excerpt from Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Shadow, a new book by Sanya Osha
The JRB presents an excerpt from Sanya Osha’s new book, Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Shadow: Politics, Nationalism and the Ogoni Protest Movement….
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…
The archive has been rigged—Wamuwi Mbao reviews Patric Tariq Mellet’s The Lie of 1652, uncovering the debased half-truths installed as national narrative
In The Lie of 1652, Patric Tariq Mellet fills in the ‘before’ that was of little interest to those invested…
Tracing the rich tapestry of Black British life—Adekeye Adebajo reviews Homecoming: Voices of the Windrush Generation by Colin Grant
Colin Grant’s Homecoming: Voices of the Windrush Generation is an important and valuable text that has captured the voices that…
‘Oppression and thwarted aspiration are no bar to an appreciation of nature’—Read an excerpt from Jacob Dlamini’s new book Safari Nation: A Social History of the Kruger National Park
The JRB presents an excerpt from Safari Nation: A Social History of the Kruger National Park by Jacob Dlamini. Safari Nation:…
‘I had got involved with Dambudzo Marechera’—Read an excerpt from Flora Veit-Wild’s new memoir, They Called You Dambudzo
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from They Called You Dambudzo: A Memoir by Flora Veit-Wild. They Called You Dambudzo:…
‘Sometimes I would think, They had better interrogate me. At least there was contact.’—Read an excerpt from Women in Solitary: Inside the Female Resistance to Apartheid by Shanthini Naidoo
The JRB presents an excerpt from Shanthini Naidoo’s book Women in Solitary: Inside the Female Resistance to Apartheid. Women in…
To overthrow Europatriarchy, logic and emotion must work in tandem—Shayera Dark reviews Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone by Minna Salami
Europatriarchy takes centre stage in Minna Salami’s elegant book of essays Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone, writes…
Read ‘Ugly Noo-Noos and Suburban Nightmares’ by Nicky Falkof, excerpted from Anxious Joburg: The Inner Lives of a Global South City
Nicky Falkof considers the Parktown prawn as a metaphor for the anxieties of apartheid and post-apartheid suburban life, in an…
‘The beginning of an adventure’—Read the late George Bizos’s account of his escape from Nazi-occupied Greece as a child, from his memoir Odyssey To Freedom
The JRB presents an excerpt from Odyssey To Freedom, the memoir of the late George Bizos. Bizos passed away in…
‘A tour de force of scholarship’—Arja Salafranca reviews The Pink Line: Journeys Across the World’s Queer Frontiers by Mark Gevisser
Arja Salafranca reviews Mark Gevisser’s new book The Pink Line: Journeys Across the World’s Queer Frontiers. The Pink Line: Journeys…
Listen to Makhosazana Xaba on the WiSER Podcast—An absent presence: Writing Noni Jabavu’s life
Makhosazana Xaba was recently featured on the WiSER Podcast, discussing the life and work of Noni Jabavu, editor, memoirist, reader,…
‘Bessie Head’s work jolted me awake … I had not thought it possible that a black woman could be a writer’—Read an excerpt from Barbara Boswell’s new book, And Wrote My Story Anyway
The JRB presents an excerpt from the Author’s Preface of And Wrote My Story Anyway: Black South African Women’s Novels…
‘We didn’t fight a revolution to stay inside’—Read an excerpt from Mark Gevisser’s new book The Pink Line: Journeys Across the World’s Queer Frontiers
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Pink Line: Journeys Across the World’s Queer Frontiers, the new book by Mark…
‘The idea of literary imagination as a kind of violation’—Imraan Coovadia considers JM Coetzee’s Disgrace, excerpted from his new book Revolution and Non-Violence in Tolstoy, Gandhi, and Mandela
The JRB presents an excerpt from Imraan Coovadia’s new book Revolution and Non-Violence in Tolstoy, Gandhi, and Mandela. Revolution and…
‘The whole wide world could see what South Africa was truly like’—Read an excerpt from Heart of a Strong Woman: A Memoir by Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema, as told to Fred Khumalo
The JRB presents an excerpt from Heart of a Strong Woman: A Memoir by Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema, as told to Fred…
What continuities can be drawn from the murder of Ahmed Timol in apartheid Joburg to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis? Wamuwi Mbao unpacks the debased tradition of police murdering civilians
The abolition of slavery, formalised gender discrimination, apartheid and other reprehensible ways of being did not occur simply through continued…
Pan-African Anti-Racism and Solidarity Reading List: A Resource from The JRB
In continuing solidarity with the progressive literary community and all who fight racism and anti-Black violence, The JRB presents this…
Of fear and motherly love—Rofhiwa Maneta reviews Imani Perry’s memoir Breathe: A Letter to My Sons
Imani Perry’s Breathe is a memoir committed to the radical hope that sees Black boys as more than problems to…
Philosophy in Africa, or Africa in Philosophy? Mary Carman reviews Debating African Philosophy: Perspectives on Identity, Decolonial Ethics and Comparative Philosophy
Mary Carman reviews Debating African Philosophy, a new collection of essays that originated during student protests and demands for the…
[Exclusive] Read an excerpt from Sex and Lies, the first work of non-fiction in English from award-winning Moroccan author Leïla Slimani
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from Leïla Slimani’s new book Sex and Lies. Sex and LiesLeïla Slimani (translated by…
‘Thinking while black’—Read Grace A Musila’s essay from the award-winning book Black Academic Voices: The South African Experience
‘How do we craft a healthy, dignified blackness, in a world where blackness is a captured identity location that needs…
Read ‘Black children and white dolls’ by Kopano Ratele, excerpted from his book The World Looks Like This From Here: Thoughts on African Psychology
The JRB presents an excerpt from The World Looks Like This From Here: Thoughts on African Psychology, by psychologist and…
‘Race matters. It matters because of the meanings we give to it.’ Read an excerpt from Race Otherwise: Forging a New Humanism for South Africa by Zimitri Erasmus
This excerpt is based on a chapter from a Zimitri Erasmus’s book Race Otherwise: Forging a New Humanism for South…
[The JRB Daily] Media24 Books Literary Prizes winners announced, including Jonny Steinberg, Trevor Sacks and Edyth Bulbring
Header image: Jonny Steinberg, Trevor Sacks, Zirk van den Berg, Loftus Marais, Edyth Bulbring, Fanie Viljoen, Theodore Key The winners…
[Sampler issue] ‘Could I be you?’ Photographs and text from Ex Offenders at the Scene of Crime by David Goldblatt
The JRB presents a selection of photographs and personal stories from Ex Offenders at the Scene of Crime: South Africa…
[Sampler issue] Read an exclusive excerpt from Jacob Dlamini’s new book The Terrorist Album: Apartheid’s Insurgents, Collaborators, and the Security Police
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from The Terrorist Album: Apartheid’s Insurgents, Collaborators, and the Security Police by Jacob Dlamini….
[Sampler issue] Read an excerpt from the first South African edition of the previously banned book Malibongwe: Poems from the Struggle by ANC Women, including poetry by Baleka Mbete
The JRB presents an excerpt from Malibongwe: Poems from the Struggle by ANC Women—a new edition of a lost piece…
[Sampler issue] ‘At the beginning, it wasn’t called feminism. It was called an attitude problem.’—Read Neliswa Tshazi’s essay from Living While Feminist
The JRB presents an excerpt from Living While Feminist: Our Bodies, Our Truths, a new collection of essays edited by…
[Sampler issue] Read an excerpt from a new edition of DDT Jabavu’s travelogue In India and East Africa / E-Indiya nase East Africa, in isiXhosa and English
The JRB presents an excerpt, in isiXhosa and English, from DDT Jabavu’s travelogue In India and East Africa / E-Indiya…