The Johannesburg Review of Books

South African literary magazine.

The Johannesburg Review of Books

Editor| Jennifer Malec
Categories| Literature, African literature, Photography
Frequency| Bi-monthy (6 issues per year)
Publisher| Ben Williams
Founded| 2017; 7 years ago (2017)
First issue| 1 May 2017
Country| South Africa
Based in| Johannesburg
Language| English
Website| johannesburgreviewofbooks.com

The Johannesburg Review of Books (or JRB) is a South African online magazine based on other literary magazines such as The New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books. 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

[edit]

The Johannesburg Review of Books was founded in 2017, and released its first issue in May of that year.[1] The writers Achmat Dangor, Ivan Vladislavic, and Makhosazana Xaba were founding patrons.[2]

The founders of the JRB included former editors of South African literary website BooksLIVE (now the "Books" section of The Sunday Times), as well as several African writers and authors.[3]

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."[1] 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".[4] 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.[5]

The first issue included — among other things — reviews of Koleka Putuma's poetry collection Collective Amnesia and Naomi Alderman's novel The Power, portraits of Binyavanga Wainaina and Niq Mhlongo (the magazine's city editor), and poetry by Rustum Kozain (its poetry editor).[6]

Contributions to the magazine have been nominated for various awards, including five nominations for the Brittle Paper Awards in 2018.[5]

## Contributors

[edit]

As of May 2022, when the JRB issued its fiftieth issue, it had published work from more than 400 contributors.[7] Notable contributors have included:

* J. M. Coetzee
* Tsitsi Dangarembga
* Tony Eprile
* Ingrid de Kok
* Yaa Gyasi
* Deon Meyer
* George Monbiot
* Koleka Putuma
* Arundhati Roy
* Bhakti Shringarpure
* Zadie Smith
* Binyavanga Wainaina

Some of the magazine's noteworthy contributors are on its masthead as editors or patrons.[8] These include:

* Achmat Dangor
* Rustum Kozain
* Lidudumalingani
* Niq Mhlongo
* Ivan Vladislavic
* Makhosazana Xaba

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Ferreira, Jonathan (2017-06-14). "The Johannesburg Review of Books". SA Booksellers Association. Archived from the original on 2023-05-20. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
2. ^ Lever, Carla (2018-01-29). ""We think it's important that the world becomes more aware of what readers in Africa are thinking" – a Q&A with the Johannesburg Review of Books editor, Jennifer Malec". BooksLIVE. Archived from the original on 2023-05-21. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
3. ^ Murua, James (2017-04-28). "World Exclusive: The Johannesburg Review of Books debuts on May 1, 2017". James Murua's Literature Blog. Archived from the original on 2022-12-06.
4. ^ Williams, Ben (2017-04-30). "Welcome to The Johannesburg Review of Books". The Johannesburg Review of Books. Archived from the original on 2023-05-20. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
5. ^ a b Mugo, Delfhin (2020-09-21). "Johannesburg Review of Books is Africa's Destination for Critics and Book Lovers". Brittle Paper. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
6. ^ Malec, Jennifer (2017-05-01). "The Johannesburg Review of Books Vol. 1, Issue 1 (May 2017)". The Johannesburg Review of Books. Archived from the original on 2023-05-21. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
7. ^ Williams, Ben (2022-05-02). "The JRB: five years, 50 issues, 425 contributors". The Johannesburg Review of Books. Archived from the original on 2023-05-21. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
8. ^ "The JRB Masthead". The Johannesburg Review of Books. Archived from the original on 2023-04-26. Retrieved 2023-05-21.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website