(Photograph by Mikhael Subotzky)
I recently gave a talk about Johannesburg at Recylart in Brussels, a very cool cultural programme that takes place in train stations, transforming them, like Cinderella, from dull commuter thoroughfares into very cool urban nightlife venues.
I included a recommended reading list and several people asked me to post it online, so here it is, with invaluable suggestions from Ben Williams, books editor at The Sunday Times.
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- Portrait With Keys – Ivan Vladislavic
- Room 207 – Kgebetli Moele
- This Is Our Hillbrow – Phaswane Mphe
- Zoo City – Lauren Beukes (had to include this one)
- Triomf – Marlene van Niekerk
- Cape Town, Joburg, London – Zukiswa Wanner
- After Tears – Niq Mhlongo
- The Beggar’s Signwriters – Louis Greenberg
- The Mall, The Ward and The New Girl – SL Grey
- The Joburg Book (non-fiction) – edited by Nechama Brodie
- Lost and Found in Johannesburg by Mark Gevisser (non-fiction)
- Emily Green & Me by Kathryn White
- Red Ink by Angela Makholwa
- To Every Birth Its Blood by Serote
- A Dry White Season by Andre Brink
- Pale Horses by Jassy Mackenzie
- Bloody Harvests by Richard Kunzmann
- Shirley, Goodness & Mercy by Chris van Wyk