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The Beckett of the Boland, the Kafka of the Karoo, the Faulkner of the Veld:...
Earlier this year, on 24 July, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London bestowed an Honorary Doctorate in Literature upon Nobel Laureate JM Coetzee, in...
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Fiction Friday: An Excerpt from Cameroonian Author Inongo-vi-Makome’s...
Phoneme Media, a nonprofit publishing house for literature in translation based in the United States, has shared an excerpt from Natives, Cameroonian author Inongo-vi-Makomè’s English-language...
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5 Thrilling Sunday Reads, Including Women and Horror Literature and the Birth...
1. Taking the Portraits out of the Attic: Women and Horror Literature From 4th Estate: If there were a Horror Literature Hall of Fame (or should that be Haunted Mansion of Fame?), the faces on the...
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Sunday Read: This Halloween, Read an Excerpt from “The Call of Cthulhu” by HP...
HP Lovecraft might seem an obvious choice for a Halloween-themed Sunday Read, but we can bet there are many things you didn’t know about the reclusive author who’s legacy’s inspired many a...
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Read a New Short Story by Ivan Vladislavic, Written in One Hour for Visual Verse
A new short story by Ivan Vladislavić has been published this morning by Visual Verse. Visual Verse is an online anthology of art, poetry, short fiction and non-fiction, which recently celebrated...
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Jinns & Tonic: Michele Magwood Talks to Salman Rushdie About His New Book,...
The target of the infamous fatwa brings buoyancy and laughs to his new book. By Michele Magwood for the Sunday Times Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights Salman Rushdie (Penguin Random...
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Book Bites: 1 November 2015
Saving Safa Waris Dirie (Little, Brown) *** Book buff This is the tale of how Waris Dirie, founder of the Desert Flower Foundation, which campaigns for an end to female genital mutilation (FGM), works...
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Carol Anshaw Reviews Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta
Verdict: carrot From 1967 to 1970, the Nigerian state of Biafra tried but failed to gain its independence in a civil war that left a million dead. Heads separated from their bodies, bodies relieved of...
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Carrie Schmidt Reviews The Girl From The Train by Irma Joubert
Verdict: carrot Rich with history and humanity, The Girl From The Train will replace dates and facts with faces and heartbeats to make the events come alive in your spirit. I learned much I did not...
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RIP Lauretta Ngcobo (1931 – 2015)
Novelist and essayist Lauretta Ngcobo has passed away in Johannesburg. The sad news was confirmed to Books LIVE by Ngcobo’s publisher, UKZN Press. Ngcobo was born in 1931 in the rural community of...
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SA Crime-writing Duo Michael Stanley “Delighted” With UK Book Deal for...
UK Publisher Orenda Books has acquired the rights to three books in the widely acclaimed Detective Kubu series by award-winning crime-writing duo Michael Stanley – Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip....
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Call for Entries for the University of Johannesburg Prize for South African...
The University of Johannesburg Prize for South African Writing in English is now open for the submissions. The UJ Prize has two categories, Main and Debut, and is open to creative writing in any...
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Stanely Mushava Reviews The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
Verdict: carrot “The Fishermen”, a notable debut by Nigerian novelist Chingozie Obioma, multiphases the unsettling threads of a dark childhood to process the mistakes of history. Obioma registers...
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Fiction Friday: An Excerpt from Elnathan John’s Debut Novel, Born on a Tuesday
This Fiction Friday, read an excerpt from the much-anticipated debut novel from Elnathan John, Born on a Tuesday. Born on a Tuesday, described as a novel that “explores life, love, friendship, loss...
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5 Sunday Reads, Including an Interview with Edward Snowden’s Biographer and...
1. “Honey Bunny”, a short story by Julianne Pachico From The New Yorker: He comes up to her on the dance floor. “Nice purse,” he says almost immediately. “Nice Charlie Brown sweater,” she says. She...
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Sunday Read: An Excerpt from Rogue Lawyer, with a Note to Readers from John...
This week’s Sunday Read is an excerpt from Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham. The legal thriller, which will land in South Africa in mid-November, has already shot to the top of The New York Times’...
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Johannes Plagemann Reviews Africa Rising? BRICS – Diversifying Dependency by...
Verdict: stick With fewer quotes and less repetition, Taylor would have had the space to include examples from some of those countries with particularly close relationships with BRIC states, which...
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Household Names: Sophy Kohler Reviews Jonathan Franzen’s Purity
Franzen’s novel nails the internet era’s double-edged power, writes Sophy Kohler Purity Jonathan Franzen (4th Estate) **** A South African reader may find it difficult to escape the promise of baby...
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3 South Africans Nominated for “World’s Richest Literary Prize”
Alert! Three South African writers have been nominated for this year’s International Dublin Literary Award: Zakes Mda (Rachel’s Blue), Mandla Langa (The Texture of Shadows) and Imraan Coovadia...
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“Avowed Racist” HP Lovecraft will No Longer Represent the World Fantasy...
It was announced on Monday that winners of the World Fantasy Award will no longer receive a bust of HP Lovecraft as their trophy. The decision was made in the wake of growing discomfort among...
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