Wits University Press

14/07/2025

REVIEW: With his two new plays, The House of Truth & Bloke and His American Bantu, Siphiwo Mahala offers a wonderful walk down memory lane.

Siphiwo Mahala celebrates a full circle moment with works that honour Can Themba and the difficult history of our country

10/07/2025

THE POLITY.ORG.ZA INTERVIEW - How do young men on the urban margins of South African cities manage economic uncertainty, not only making a living, but also making a life?
In this interview social anthropologist Hannah Dawson speaks with Polity about her findings that she writes about in her new book, 'Making a Life: Young Men on Johannesburg’s Urban Margins' around issues such as urban work, citizenship, un(der)employment and inequality in South Africa.

Making a Life explores the dynamic life-making strategies of young men in Zandspruit, an informal settlement in Johannesburg. It offers insights into issues such as urban work, citizenship, un(der)employment and inequality in South Africa, and contributes to a global understanding of how young men m...

28/06/2025

Goodbye to Prague and ECAS2025 !
Wits University Press books attracted a lot of attention this week and we sold out of Hannah Dawson’s book, Making a Life, an important new book on the lives and life making of young men on the urban margins of Johannesburg.
The launch of her book in discussion with Deborah James and Max Bolt drew a big crowd. https://www.witspress.co.za/page/detail/Making-a-Life/?k=9781776149551

Lovely to see many Wits colleagues and friends, including , , and of the journal, African Studies.

27/06/2025

A Copenhagen bookstore accidentally received a shipment of books intended for Nairobi. With the complicated and expensive logistics of sending it back or to the actual recipient, English-language bookstore Books & Company decided it was a unique opportunity to share and gain insight about African culture and make new connections.

Bookstore owner Isabella Mousavizadeh Smith says the display has already drawn people in and that it signals "someone sees your culture."

Read our writer Laura Matheson's article: https://lwid.dk/unpacking-a-mystery-at-books-company/

UPDATE:

Dear readers, we’re delighted that this story has reached so many people. Please note that as mentioned in the article, the Nairobi bookshop received the full five-box shipment. Books & Company has already commented here with the email from Joan (the publisher’s rep in Nairobi) and noted that they’re still trying to track down the bookshop in question. We’ll update the article if we get new info.

It’s been a privilege to cover this story and it’s wonderful that there’s so much interest in this wayward shipment of books!

27/06/2025

The first Wits Press book sold at ECAS2025 in Prague was ’s Predicaments of Knowledge bought by a professor from Philadelphia. A book on decolonisation and deracialisation in Universities.

https://www.witspress.co.za/page/detail/Predicaments-of-Knowledge/?k=9781776149070

27/06/2025

Wits University Press authors amd colleagues

27/06/2025

Wits University Press is this week at the biennial European Conference on African Studies in Prague, Czech Republic.
Visit our stand on the 3rd floor if you’re around! Wits - University of the Witwatersrand

20/06/2025

Review in the Mail & Guardian: "Pillay’s deeply grounded critical insights lead us to rethink the difference between accommodating knowledge and producing knowledge and what it means to engage with, or possess, knowledge in Africa. " - UCT

A timely call to rethink how African history and knowledge can reclaim space in global narratives

12/06/2025

12/06/2025

Hold Still delves into the psychological scars of intergenerational trauma, illustrating how unspoken histories influence present relationships and self-perception. A profound exploration of memory and identity. @

https://www.witspress.co.za/page/detail/Hold-Still/?K=9781776148868

10/06/2025

If you missed this lovely thoughtful launch discussion at Love Books Johannesburg, here's a chance to watch the recording of the conversation with author Hannah J. Dawson about her insightful book, Making a Life: Young Men on Johannesburg's Urban Margins. Thabang Sefalafala, sociology lecturer at Wits - University of the Witwatersrand is the elegant interviewer here.

Join Thabang Sefalafala in conversation with Hannah Dawson about her insightful book, Making a Life: Young Men on Johannesburg's Urban Margins.📕 Buy the boo...

10/06/2025

LISTEN & WATCH A RECORDING of the book launch discussion of DIGITAL CAPITALISM AND ITS LIMITS - a new book edited by eco-socialist professor Vishwas Satgar. Digital capitalism promises progresss, development and an end to the planetary crisis. Contributors discuss the implications of heightened technological innovation on employment, weak market democracies, climate change and labour power dynamics and alternatives for emancipatory futures in a digitalised world. Wits - University of the Witwatersrand

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has been described as the next big leap in digital capitalism. Digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, q...