[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,…
Category: Translation
[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…
[The JRB Daily] Youssouf Amine Elalamy wins 2020 Prix Orange du Livre en Afrique—a prize that celebrates French writing by African writers and publishers
Moroccan author Youssouf Amine Elalamy has won the second annual Prix Orange du Livre en Afrique, for his novel C’est…
[Sampler issue] Read an exclusive excerpt from Alain Mabanckou’s new novel The Death of Comrade President, a tale of family and revolution in postcolonial Congo
The JRB presents an exclusive excerpt from The Death of Comrade President, the new novel from Alain Mabanckou. The Death…
[Sampler issue] ‘The last moments before the downfall of any dictator are all surprisingly similar’—Read an excerpt from The Dictatorship Syndrome by Alaa Al Aswany
The JRB presents an excerpt from The Dictatorship Syndrome by noted author Alaa Al Aswany. Alaa Aswany first and foremost…
‘Greed—the Poem as Deadly Sin’, a new poem by Andries Bezuidenhout
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents a new poem by Andries Bezuidenhout. ~~~ Greed—the Poem as Deadly Sin If it…
‘I had to choose which “truth” would suit the story best’—Willem Anker chats to Jennifer Malec about his novel Red Dog
The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec talks to Willem Anker about his novel Red Dog, which was recently longlisted for the…
‘We are African writers, we write as Africans and we share our books as Africans’—The tiny island of Mayotte has big plans for books, reports James Murua
The JRB Editorial Advisory Panel member James Murua reports back from his trip to the Salon du Livre de Mayotte, which took place…
‘I experience a new type of fear every time I write’—Lebohang Mojapelo interviews exiled Sudanese author Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin
Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin is a bestselling, award-winning writer originally from Kassala in eastern Sudan, but currently based in Austria, where…
‘you step’, a poem by Gratiagusti Chananya Rompas, translated by Mikael Johani
The Johannesburg Review of Books presents a poem by Gratiagusti Chananya Rompas, translated by Mikael Johani. you step on the…
[The JRB Daily] 12 African writers nominated for 2020 International Dublin Literary Award—the world’s richest annual literary prize
Twelve African writers have been longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, the world’s most valuable annual literary prize for…
A perfectly shaped raging fire of language and emotion—Lidudumalingani reviews Everything is a Deathly Flower, the debut poetry collection by Maneo Mohale
Lidudumalingani reviews Everything is a Deathly Flower by Maneo Mohale, finding it to be a succession of powerful moments. Everything…
‘I have turned my car into a mobile bookshop’—Siphiwo Mahala chats to Jennifer Malec about self-publishing his new book, Red Apple Dreams, and why short stories are the future
The JRB Editor Jennifer Malec chats to Siphiwo Mahala about his new collection of short stories, Red Apple Dreams. Mahala…
Voices from the continent with the world’s youngest population—Water Birds on the Lake Shore: An Anthology of African Young Adult Fiction (Plus: Read 3 of the stories)
Exclusive to The JRB, we present three new short stories from the Goethe-Institut Afro Young Adult anthology, Water Birds on…
‘Among the most gifted writers currently at work’—Patrick Flanery reviews The Troubled Times of Magrieta Prinsloo by Ingrid Winterbach
The Troubled Times of Magrieta Prinsloo by Ingrid Winterbach offers us one of the most chilling and fearless portraits of…
‘Not your traditional immigrant novel’—Efemia Chela reviews Beyond Babylon, the newly translated English debut by Somali–Italian author Igiaba Scego
In Beyond Babylon, by Igiaba Scego, migrants come to rebuild their lives in the midst of ruins, writes Francophone and…
[The JRB Daily] 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. In addition…
An exhilarating elegy for the slaves and storytellers of old—Lara Buxbaum reviews Patrick Chamoiseau’s wildly inventive novel The Old Slave and the Mastiff
Tracing the memory of bones, ‘a long thread of words that attempted to fulfil the universe’—Lara Buxbaum reviews The Old…
Read ‘Surely This [Mother Tongue] Should Count for Something’—A conversation with 5 women poets, from Makhosazana Xaba’s new book Our Words, Our Worlds
The JRB presents an excerpt from Our Words, Our Worlds: Writing on Black South African Women Poets, 2000–2018, edited by…
Read an excerpt from the forthcoming English translation of Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida’s award-winning debut novel That Hair, from the new anthology New Daughters of Africa
In celebration of Women’s Month, The JRB presents a series of excerpts from New Daughters of Africa. Edited by Margaret…
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,…
New poetry by Robin Moger—Two versions of ‘Poem Six’ from The Interpreter of Desires by Ibn Arabi
The following two translations are responses to the sixth poem in The Interpreter of Desires, a cycle of sixty-one poems…
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…
[Temporary Sojourner] Efemia Chela travels to Sudan with Rania Mamoun’s newly translated collection of short stories, Thirteen Months of Sunrise
The JRB Francophone and Contributing Editor Efemia Chela travels to Sudan with Rania Mamoun’s debut collection of short stories, Thirteen Months of Sunrise,…
[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…
[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…
Rough honesty, ample sex and ripe desire—Efemia Chela reads Leïla Slimani’s Adèle, Ariana Harwicz’s Die, My Love and Melissa Broder’s The Pisces
The JRB Contributing Editor Efemia Chela reads Adèle, Die, My Love and The Pisces, three stirring psychological novels, kindred portraits of contemporary womanhood….
[City Editor] Finding out you’re big in Myanmar—and a caution on the potential effects of South Africa’s Copyright Amendment Bill
City Editor Niq Mhlongo finds a cautionary tale in an interaction with one of his (heretofore unknown) international publishers. In…
[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…
New short fiction: ‘Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!’ by A Bouna Guazong, excerpted from Of Passion and Ink: New Voices from Cameroon
The JRB presents an excerpt from Of Passion and Ink: New Voices from Cameroon, a collection of short stories forthcoming…
Read an excerpt from Athena Farrokhzad’s award-winning poetry collection White Blight
The JRB presents excerpts from White Blight by Swedish poet Athena Farrokhzad, translated by Jennifer Hayashida. White Blight is published…
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,…
‘I avoid filling up my belly to feel less guilty’—Read newly translated poetry by Fiston Mwanza Mujila
Asymptote Journal runs the Close Approximations Translation Contest yearly, and this year an excellent translation of Fiston Mwanza Mujila’s poetry…
‘I write in French to tell the French that I am not French’—Algerian Francophone poetry featured in Words Without Borders
In the January 2019 issue of Words Without Borders, translator and poet Marilyn Hacker discusses the fascinating resistance history of…