Eight questions for the interested and interesting: Jacqueline Nyathi

If you love books – sharp essays, newsy publishing intel and the events that shape literary culture – you should already be following Jacqueline Nyathi. Through the Harare Review of Books, her lens is global, taking in everything from thoughtful criticism to the small updates that signal where the book world is moving.

Jacqueline’s Substack is an excellent, super-list of lists: prizes, grants, must-read essays and book-world things worth knowing, while her longer-form reviews live on the Harare Review of Books website. Plus, her consistent spotlight on African work in all its manifestations is damn impressive. 

The best book you’ve read in the past year?

Always a difficult one to answer: I read a ridiculous (and I mean ridiculous) number of books and often like different ones for different reasons. I’m also not big on holding onto stuff – always looking forward to the next thing to inspire and renew me. But a highlight in 2025 was the story of two 18^th-century Mozambican princes, pieced together from archives: Lindsay O’Neill’s The Two Princes of Mpfumo. Amazing and illuminating.

How do you keep fit?

I don’t (: But I do go on a decent walk every second morning, more for my mental health. When I feel up to it, I do low-intensity yoga, which is more like a few minutes of stretching.

Week night, lowkey restaurant go-to? 

I don’t go out either. (It’s occurring to me as I answer these questions that I must come across as such a boring person, but I’m really not! Just not particularly sociable.) I save up my spoons for biggish holidays, which happen once or twice a year. 

What is the one artwork you’ll always love, and why?

I don’t have a particular favourite, but I make an effort to go to galleries (or museums) in every new city I visit. I’ve loved it every time I have. The last one I went to was the Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, and it was weird and wonderful.

Do you have a hobby? 

Now this I can answer easily: I have many! Again, always trying new things – usually new techniques in arts and crafts. I used to crochet, but don’t really have the time or strength anymore, so mostly these days you’ll find me painting, scrapping and print-making. 

The one unusual item you can’t live without? 

An app called Obsidian. I manage my reading and writing (and archiving) with it, and it’s completely indispensable.

Who was your high school celeb crush? 

The only one I can remember now is a musician called Joe Thomas. I have no idea why, looking back, but that 16-year-old girl is a foreign country to me now anyway.

Three songs that you’d take to a desert island?

I’d get sick of him I’m sure, but something Beethoven. I like different songs at different times, but my favourite thing is white noise – so the ocean would probably suffice, if I also had earplugs for when I’m bored with it.

ALSO READ:

• The books we loved this year (and why they’re perfect December reads)
• Found in translation
• Cold cases, warm heart

_{Top image: supplied.}