those shawarmas tho

Johannesburg has lured people from across the globe – and, if you know where to look, it has culinary offerings that richly reflects that. In Fordsburg, following a paratha starter and chai at the night market, we hopped over to a Syrian shawarma joint where hunky men were turning skewers and slicing spit-roasted meat. The shawarmas and date milkshake I had there has been one of several reminders that while Joburg might be intermittently dispiriting and infuriating, the metropolis also offers plenty of inspiration and delight too.

And so, here are a few other highlights.

Highveld cloudscapes.

Nuff said, really.

The Johannesburg Library – reopened at last.

Originally built in the 30s, the main branch of the Johannesburg Library got a major revamp in 2009-2012 courtesy of some Carnegie Corp cash. In 2021, it was shut again due to fire safety concerns. A long four years later – following further sprucing – it finally reopened last year. I visited on Saturday when the stacks were closed to browsing, but I did get to walk its upstairs levels which were being used by Joburgers to read, write and study.

Weird/interesting/beautiful buildings.

My Airbnb was about as chic as the janitorial cupboard in an East German nuclear fallout shelter BUT at least it was very affordable, a short walk from/to the Rosebank Gautrain station and – best of all – within Macedon, a gorgeous mid-century block of flats (that so far has withstood the encroaching tide of sterile, flashy blandly generic mid-rises that have soared up around it).

So many streetside indigenous plants.

(Many of them hardy succulents, ideal for those prolonged water outages.)

The art.

Joburg might have conceded the "South African art capital" crown to Cape Town (one telling symptom: the closure of venerable commercial gallery Stevenson's Jozi outpost) but there's still a scene here.

I found Latitudes Art Fair a bit of a meh hodgepodge but still worthwhile – two favourites: The Artists' Press stand and Dada Khanyisa's extraordinary sculptural installation Above and Beyond. I also fell obsessively in love with Peter Clarke's drawing from 1970, The Contortionists, which was to be auctioned off by Strauss & Co (I did not place a bid and will probs always regret that).

On the performing arts front, the Market Theatre continues to shine brightly. I watched the goofy, funny and touching Afropocalypse there which was performed with such heart, urgency and balletic verve by its talented cast. If only that bunch were running the city administration.

Printed treasures

Every time I visit Bridge Books I leave so happy and inspired – and weighed down by a stack of obscure, delightful gems. (And some mainstream treats too; ZAR 3.00 for a mint condition copy of The English Patient? Yes please...)

This time my Bridge browsing was even more joyful as I got to see the brand new South African paperback edition of my novel, The President, on its shelves.

Speaking of The President, I also visited the studio and new retail outlet of PULP Paperworks – the folks who printed and hand-bound both of its collectable editions (PULP still has a handful of Artist Editions in stock). I bought a fresh supply of my favourite writing notebook (blue cover; B5-sized blank pages inside) and stocked up on copies of PULP's latest book projects.

I'm burying the lede here, but perhaps the most exciting thing I did in Joburg was check out Rhyme & Riso, a brand new Risograph printing studio at the Open Window Institute in Blairgowrie. Exciting because I love Risograph – and, as a nascent publisher, I want to bring out publications that have been printed with this method (Riso is particularly well-suited to short[er] things like chapbooks, broadsides, posters). The studio will also be offering workshops and training – so I'm hoping I'll actually learn how to print with Riso, too! (As labour is one of the biggest costs in a printing studio, being able to print there myself would also significantly lower the cost of doing so.)

Smash hit.

By the time I left gym on Monday night and was headed to my Airbnb I was having a hard time finding somewhere still open and serving food. Thankfully, Zuney, a wagyu burger chain from Cape Town, was going strong (Cape Town is not quite as aggressively diurnal as its early-to-bed inland sister). It was an excellent burger. The sweet potato fries were darn tasty, too.

Other yums: Father's cortado holds its own against rivals in SF, London, Melbourne (granted, its AirSpace decor gives one the sense you might indeed be in any one of those cities; thankfully its prices don't). Pocha sated my Korean cravings (please open in Cape Town!).

This is the latest in a sequence of irregular Field Notes from a swimming pool library.