“My background is in narrative research and I think this was really helpful in working with interview material, and fusing it with sociological description. Narratives allow us to tend to big questions (“what kind of society are we?”), but using individual stories as starting points. It is an amazingly productive technique. Every person has a story, and their class, race, religion, accent, gender, domicile all point to social influences and allow us to sketch a picture of something bigger than just one story. But because it is ‘just’ one story, it remains accessible.”
Living in an “obsessively visual culture” interview with Joanne Bloch
Living in an “obsessively visual culture" - Takondwa Mazengera interviews Joanne Bloch Joanne Bloch is a South African artist, writer, and...
Two interviews with Michelle Edwards
February has brought us a bumper crop of interviews! Today we're taking a look at WriteOnline's two-part interview with Michelle Edwards, author of the upcoming Go Away Birds....
February newsletter: It’s the month of love, and we love books!
January is always a tough month, but you've gotten through it! Why not reward yourself or someone you love with a Modjaji title to welcome you home after a long day? Hellos and...
An interview with Fiona Snyckers
Everyone here at Modjaji is excited to dive into 2021 and the fabulous books it will bring. Among those fabulous books is The School Gates by Fiona Snyckers, a skewering critique...
An interview with Futhi Ntshingila
In 2014, Modjaji published Do Not Go Gentle – a story of strong women who have little but are determined to shape their own destinies. The book was translated into Mozambican and...
An interview with Jeannie McKeown
Fall Awake, Jeannie McKeown’s latest volume of poetry, came out during lockdown and thus missed out on the fanfare it deserves. This month we’d like to celebrate the collection...
Meet Barbara Adair
Barbara Adair is an award-winning novelist, academic and travel writer. Based in Johannesburg, her novels include the critically-acclaimed In Tangier We Killed the Blue Parrot...
Interview with Ameera Patel
As Ameera Patel's novel Outside the Lines is being launched by Catalyst Press in the USA to rave reviews, here's a look back at a 2016 interview with the author of this gripping...








