The Johannesburg Review of Books

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

The Johannesburg Review of Books
EditorJennifer Malec
CategoriesLiterature, African literature, Photography
FrequencyBi-monthy (6 issues per year)
PublisherBen Williams
Founded2017 (2017)
First issue1 May 2017
CountrySouth Africa
Based inJohannesburg
LanguageEnglish
Websitejohannesburgreviewofbooks.com

History

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

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

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

References
  1. 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. 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.
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