''The Johannesburg Review of Books'' (or ''JRB'') is a South African online magazine based on other

literary magazines A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters ...

such as the ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' and ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of ...

''. Its bi-monthly issues include reviews, essays, poetry, photographs, and short fiction focused predominantly but not exclusively on South Africa and other African countries.

History

''The Johannesburg Review of Books'' was founded in 2017, and released its first issue in May of that year. The writers

Achmat Dangor Achmat Dangor (2 October 1948 – 6 September 2020) was a South African writer, poet, and development professional. His most important works include the novels ''Kafka's Curse'' (1997) and ''Bitter Fruit'' (2001). He was also the author of three ...

Ivan Vladislavic Ivan Vladislavić (born 17 September 1957) is a South African author, editor and professor. Vladislavić's style has been described as postmodern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhet ...

, and Makhosazana Xaba were founding patrons. The founders of the ''JRB'' included former editors of South African literary website BooksLIVE (now the "Books" section of

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

), as well as several African writers and authors. Editor Jennifer Malec made reference to other literary magazines like the ''London'', ''Los Angeles'', and ''New York Review of Books'' as having inspired the founding of the ''JRB''. She said: "But there is no Nairobi Review of Books, no Kinshasa Review of Books. In fact, there is no ‘review of books’ based in an African city. We want to provide a space for cultural criticism on global literature and the arts originating from Johannesburg, southern Africa and Africa." Publisher Ben Williams wrote in a blog post introducing the magazine that its aim was "to fill a conspicuous gap in world letters" and that its informal slogans were "your desultory literary companion from South Africa" and "Africa writes back". Malec and Williams have also expressed a desire to nurture critical and creative talent from Africa, and have said that paying contributors is a priority for the magazine. The first issue included — among other things — reviews of Koleka Putuma's poetry collection ''

Collective Amnesia Social amnesia is a collective forgetting by a group of people. The concept is often cited in relation to Russell Jacoby's scholarship from the 1970s. Social amnesia can be a result of "forcible repression" of memories, ignorance, changing circums ...

'' and

Naomi Alderman Naomi Alderman (born 1974) is an English novelist and game writer. She is best known for her speculative science fiction novel ''The Power (2016 novel), The Power'', which won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2017. Biography Alderman was bor ...

's novel '' The Power'', portraits of

Binyavanga Wainaina Kenneth Binyavanga Wainaina (18 January 1971 – 21 May 2019) was a Kenyan author, journalist and 2002 winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. In April 2014, ''Time'' magazine included Wainaina in its annual ''Time'' 100 as one of the "Mo ...

and Niq Mhlongo (the magazine's city editor), and poetry by Rustum Kozain (its poetry editor). Contributions to the magazine have been nominated for various awards, including five nominations for the Brittle Paper Awards in 2018.

Contributors

As of May 2022, when the ''JRB'' published its fiftieth issue, it had published work from over 400 contributors. Notable contributors have included: *

J. M. Coetzee John Maxwell Coetzee OMG (born 9 February 1940) is a South African–Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, translator and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is one of the most critically acclaimed and decorated authors in ...

Tsitsi Dangarembga Tsitsi Dangarembga (born 4 February 1959) is a Zimbabwean novelist, playwright and filmmaker. Her debut novel, ''Nervous Conditions'' (1988), which was the first to be published in English by a Black woman from Zimbabwe, was named by the BBC in ...

Ingrid de Kok Ingrid de Kok aka Ingrid Fiske (born 1951) is a South African author and poet. Biography Ingrid de Kok grew up in Stilfontein, a gold mining town in what was then the Western Transvaal Province, Transvaal. When she was 12 years old, her paren ...

Yaa Gyasi Yaa Gyasi (born 1989) is a Ghanaian-American novelist. Her debut novel ''Homegoing'', published in 2016, won her, at the age of 26, the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Award for best first book, the PEN/Hemingway Award for a first ...

Deon Meyer Deon Godfrey Meyer is a South African thriller novelist, writing in Afrikaans. His books have been translated into more than 20 languages. He has also written numerous scripts for television and film. Life and career Meyer was born on 4 July 1 ...

George Monbiot George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is a British writer known for his environmental and political activism. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and is the author of a number of books. Monbiot grew up in Oxfordsh ...

* Koleka Putuma *

Arundhati Roy Suzanna Arundhati Roy (born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. S ...

* Bhakti Shringarpure *

Zadie Smith Zadie Smith FRSL (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She has been a tenured professor ...

Some of the magazine's noteworthy contributors are on its masthead as editors or patrons. These include: *

* Rustum Kozain * Lidudumalingani * Niq Mhlongo *

* Makhosazana Xaba

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.johannesburgreviewofbooks.com/ Book review magazines Magazines established in 2017