Read ‘Dog’s Life’, new short fiction by Niq Mhlongo
The JRB presents—exclusively and for the first time in English—a new short story by Niq Mhlongo. This story was first…
Category: Translation
‘The readers are there, but we’re still figuring out the right distribution model to reach them’—Nozizwe Cynthia Jele introduces her new isiZulu-focused publisher, Happiness Books
Author Nozizwe Cynthia Jele has recently launched a publishing company, Happiness Books, which will specialise in books written in isiZulu. …
Three newly translated poems by Athambile Masola, from Ilifa
The JRB presents a selection of poetry by Athambile Masola. The poems were originally published in her award-winning 2021 collection…
Read an excerpt from Sesizophila Ngale Ndlela, the new isiZulu translation of Nozizwe Cynthia Jele’s acclaimed novel The Ones with Purpose
The JRB presents an excerpt from Sesizophila Ngale Ndlela, a new isiZulu translation of Nozizwe Cynthia Jele’s novel The Ones…
[The JRB Daily] 2024 South African Literary Awards shortlists announced—‘reflecting the dynamic and evolving literary scene’
The shortlists for the 2024 South African Literary Awards have been announced. The SALAs are awarded annually by the wRite…
Read an excerpt from Izimpabanga Zomhlaba, Makhosazana Xaba’s new isiZulu translation of The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
The JRB presents an excerpt from Izimpabanga Zomhlaba, the first isiZulu edition of Frantz Fanon’s seminal work The Wretched of…
[The JRB Daily] ‘Both beautiful and uncomfortable, personal and political’—Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann, wins 2024 International Booker Prize
Jenny Erpenbeck’s novel Kairos, translated by Michael Hofmann, has been announced as the winner of the 2024 International Booker Prize….
‘Even centuries later, I still will not know what I was thinking’—Read an excerpt from Sharon Dodua Otoo’s debut novel Ada’s Realm
The JRB presents an excerpt from Ada’s Realm, the long-awaited novel by Sharon Dodua Otoo, winner of the prestigious Ingeborg…
[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…
‘It’s very important to get our books published back at home’—Fungai Machirori interviews Lucy Mushita on her novel Chinongwa
Set in early twentieth-century Zimbabwe, Chinongwa follows the life of a young girl forced into child marriage with a much…
[The JRB exclusive] Read an excerpt from K Sello Duiker’s Inkwenkwezi efihlakeleyo, a new isiXhosa edition of The Hidden Star, translated by Xolisa Guzula
The JRB presents an excerpt from Inkwenkwezi efihlakeleyo, the new isiXhosa translation of the late K Sello Duiker’s modern South…
[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] ‘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…
‘Her mother loved Angola more than she loved her daughter’—Read an excerpt from Yara Nakahanda Monteiro’s acclaimed novel Loose Ties
The JRB presents an excerpt from Yara Nakahanda Monteiro’s novel Loose Ties, translated from the Portuguese by Sandy Tamele, which…
‘Pajubá as Queer Articulation of the Black Atlantic’ by Caio Simões de Araújo—an excerpt from Changing Theory: Concepts from the Global South
The JRB presents an excerpt from Caio Simões de Araújo’s chapter ‘Pajubá’, from the new essay collection Changing Theory: Concepts…
[The JRB Daily] Yewande Omotoso and NoViolet Bulawayo longlisted for 2023 Dublin Literary Award—the world’s richest annual literary prize
Yewande Omotoso and NoViolet Bulawayo are among a number of writers from Africa longlisted for this year’s Dublin Literary Award….
[Fiction Issue] ‘I would be dead if not for books’—Read an excerpt from Hemley Boum’s prize-winning novel Days Come and Go
The JRB presents an excerpt from Days Come and Go by Hemley Boum, now available in English. Days Come and…
‘I danced a saraband with my parents. Their love dissolved my old fear’—Read an excerpt from Abdourahman A Waberi’s award-winning novel Why Do You Dance When You Walk
The JRB presents an excerpt from Why Do You Dance When You Walk by Djiboutian novelist Abdourahman A Waberi, winner…
‘Almost all of Africa’s ancient artistic heritage is now preserved in European countries’—Read an excerpt from Bénédicte Savoy’s Africa’s Struggle for Its Art
The JRB presents an excerpt from Africa’s Struggle for Its Art: History of a Postcolonial Defeat by Bénédicte Savoy. Africa’s…
[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] ‘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] ‘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 village is cursed. Don’t ever come back here.’—Read an excerpt from Véronique Tadjo’s In the Company of Men
The JRB presents an excerpt from In the Company of Men by Véronique Tadjo, out now in a new edition….
‘If there had been any kings in Rwanda, it was better to forget them’—Read an excerpt from Scholastique Mukasonga’s Our Lady of the Nile
The JRB presents an excerpt from Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga, out now in a new edition….
[JRB Daily] ‘A transformative figure in African literature’—Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o wins PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has been announced as one of the winners of this year’s PEN America Literary Awards. Ngũgĩ was…
[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…
Read an excerpt from ‘The Lumumba Business’, a new story by Fiston Mwanza Mujila, from The American Way: Stories of Invasion
The JRB presents an excerpt from the forthcoming publication The American Way: Stories of Invasion. The American Way: Stories of…
[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…
A flaming dispatch from Ananda Devi’s ‘evil twin’—Yagnishsing Dawoor reviews When the Night Agrees to Speak to Me
Ananda Devi’s When the Night Agrees to Speak to Me is an impassioned investigation of poetry writing as an apparatus…
‘Temporary madness, in war, is bravery’s sister’—Read an excerpt from David Diop’s International Booker Prize-winning novel At Night All Blood Is Black
The JRB presents an excerpt from At Night All Blood Is Black, recent winner of the International Booker Prize. At…
[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] ‘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…
[The JRB Daily] 2021 International Booker Prize longlist announced—Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o becomes first person to be nominated as both author and translator
The thirteen novels longlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize have been revealed. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has made history this…
[Fiction Issue] ‘That’s how evenings in Nawa went.’—Read an excerpt from The Ardent Swarm, the English debut from award-winning author Yamen Manai
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Ardent Swarm, the third novel from award-winning Tunisian author Yamen Manai, but the…
[The JRB Daily] 2019 Short Story Day Africa Prize ‘Disruption’ longlist announced—featuring 21 African writers from nine countries
This longlist for the seventh annual Short Story Day Africa Prize has been announced! The prize was founded in 2013,…
[Temporary Sojourner] The Beast in the Village—Efemia Chela reviews Confessions of a Lioness by Mia Couto, finding uncanny echoes of the coronavirus lockdown
The JRB Francophone and Contributing Editor Efemia Chela travels to Mozambique with Mia Couto’s novel Confessions of a Lioness. Confessions…
[The JRB Daily] ‘I am as proud as a cow with seven udders!’ Marieke Lucas Rijneveld and Michele Hutchison win the 2020 International Booker Prize for The Discomfort of Evening
The Discomfort of Evening, written by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld and translated from the Dutch by Michele Hutchison, has been announced…
‘Black people are not asking to be loved beyond reason’—Hemley Boum reflects on the Black Lives Matter protests during the coronavirus lockdown
It happens that words become too inconsistent to communicate shock. Not that we can’t guess at the terrifying explosion, whose…
[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…