Book Reviews
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Celebrating the timeless magic of books: Why classical literature endures
Open the pages and you’re gone, transported to the writer’s exact state of mind
Kobby Ben Ben on breaking the queer ceiling
Novel writes queerness into a space where it’s forbidden and meanders through the unforgiving politics of Ghana, past and present
Notes from the Body
Writers’ stories about illness and healing are transformative for readers This content is restricted to registered users and subscribers. Get Your Free Account The Mail &…
Franschhoek festival: go tell it on the mountain
The literary event aims to ‘inspire, delight, inform and challenge’ those who attend
‘Camouflage’: Tales from the powerhouse of modern African writing
An extended version of this anthology promises more writings from Nigeria’s nooks and crannies
Review: ‘Culture and the Liberation Struggle in South Africa’: On the arts as a catalyst in the quest for true freedom
This new collection of essays, tributes and analyses focuses on the role of culture in the fostering of radical consciousness
Review: A masterful look at five decades of African development
‘Know The Beginning Well’ is an insightful peek into the life of KY Amoako and the fascinating work he has done on the continent
Inside the circle: A review of Saidiya Hartman’s Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments
Saidiya Hartmanilluminates the perspectives of young Black women through a vividly cinematic narrative where we are positioned to view the world through their eyes.
Prosaic – until Hani’s assassins
The stories of children of apartheid activists are similar but Lindiwe Hani’s prose about a meeting with her father’s killers comes into its own.
Fantasy fails to enchant
“A mage’s name is better hidden than a herring in the sea, better guarded than a dragon’s den.” — Ursula K le Guin: A Wizard of Earthsea
Step out of the grooves of those who robbed you
New and welcome is McKinley’s meticulous marshalling of evidence to prove the point.
Moms in a park is a mother of a story
In her new novel, The Park (Macmillan), Gail Schimmel looks at motherhood. We asked her about the book and her writing world.
Creative nonfiction’s firm legs in Africa
In a new collection, the continent is written anew by inventive nonfiction writers telling complex stories.
Phiyega’s war on Booysen led to an unlikely – and surprising – alliance with McBride
Initially suspicious, the major general discovered another side to the tenacious IPID director — which in turn would lead to McBride’s suspension
A century of voter struggles told beautifully through people’s promise and despair
Martin Plaut’s book on the disenfranchisement of black voters in 1909 suggests comparison with today’s inflammatory party-list system.