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Silence of the enslaved

Ashraf Kagee’s Song of the Slave Girl reimagines Cape slavery through emotion, love and loss, giving voice to histories erased from official memory

The Comrade’s Wife explores love, power and resilience in modern South Africa

Barbara Boswell’s novel tells the gripping love story of a middle-aged black woman in modern-day South Africa

The new novel by Nigerian writer Onyeka Nwelue tells the story of a Nollywood actor who finds himself involved with the Johannesburg crime underworld

The Nigerian Mafia Johannesburg: Gripping crime drama in South Africa

An edited extract from The Nigerian Mafia Johannesburg by Onyeka Nwelue. It contains scenes that might upset sensitive readers

Disillusioned: In Revolutionaries’ House Nthikeng Mohlele tells the tale of a politician who falls on hard times.

When a life falls apart

An edited extract from Revolutionaries’ House, the latest novel from Nthikeng Mohlele

Tradition: Sipho Sithole’s book Maye Maye traces the history and heritage of Kwa Mai Mai market in downtown Joburg where izangoma and herbalists ply their trade. Photo: Derek Davey

Marketing a cultural gem

A book by an anthropologist documents Joburg’s bustling Kwa Mai Mai

South African writer Sol Plaatje was aware of the irony that the British Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act was passed a year after the enactment of the Natives Land Act, says Sandra Swart in her book The Lion’s Historian: Africa’s Animal Past.

People and animals: A shared history, shared cruelties

An edited extract from The Lion’s Historian: Africa’s Animal Past

Gregory Maqoma: ‘The dance bug never left me’

An excerpt from the memoir of Gregory Maqoma, multi-award-winning dancer and choreographer

ANC leader: Anti-apartheid stalwart Raymond Mhlaba in 1984.
Photo: Gallo Images

The birth of an anti-apartheid warrior

An edited extract from Rory Riordan’s book ‘Apartheid Stalingrad’, in which he explores the struggle in the Eastern Cape in the 1980s

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a Brics Summit online in 2020. The world waits to hear whether he will attend this year’s summit in South Africa. (Photo by Alexey NIKOLSKY / SPUTNIK / AFP)

Pandemic: The Russian role in Africa

An edited excerpt from Samuel Ramani’s book in which he examines Russia’s policy on the continent in relation to the pandemic

Take our word for it: Among Joburg’s most interesting secondhand bookshops are James Findlay Collectable Books and Antique Maps.
Photos: Delwyn Verasamy

More black fiction writers need to be published in South Africa

Publishing diverse voices could prove to be a source of domestic and global success for local publishers

‘Publishing is gambling’: Maggie Davey cofounded independent publisher Jacana Media in 2002. (Delwyn Verasamy)

The Portfolio: Maggie Davey

Jacana Media was established in 2002. We are the preeminent independent publishing firm in South Africa. We’re devoted to our authors’ imaginations, both in fiction and…

Informal miner exiting the community made mine shaft. Ermelo, Mpumalanga (Daylin Paul)

Broken land brooding skies

Photographer Daylin Paul, inspired by a former colleague, brings into view coal’s devastation in Mpumalanga

A way with words: Leabiloe Molapo explains why Jacana has launched a separate imprint for fiction out of Africa. Photo: Oupa Nkosi

The fight against the extinction of fiction

Jacana’s new imprint, Storied, will only publish African fiction in English, becoming the first to do so.

The various components of the books value chain — spanning writers, publishers, printers, booksellers and distributors — are having to get by using the digital sphere.

What makes a good bookstore?

A trip to find the best shops for African literature raised the question of what makes a bookstore worth visiting.