No One Dies Yet by Kobby Ben Ben

Loading player...
Thanks for listening to this episode of Pagecast, brought to you by Jonathan Ball Publishers. 

Todays episode features the phenomenal Kobby Ben Ben chatting about - No One Dies Yet.

A genre-breaking novel from a powerful new African voice.

2019. The Year of the Return. It has been exactly 400 years since the first slave ships left Ghana for America. Ghana has now opened its doors to Black diasporans, encouraging them to return and get to know the land of their ancestors.

Elton, Vincent, and Scott arrive from America to visit preserved sites from the transatlantic slave route, and to explore the country's underground queer scene. Their activities are narrated by their two combative guides: Kobby, their guide to Accra’s privileged circles; and Nana, the voice of tradition and religious principle. The pair's tense relationship sets the tone for what becomes a shocking and unsettling tale of murder that is at times funny, at times erotic, yet always outspoken and iconoclastic.

In this episode, Kobby is in conversation with Lethabo Mailula, an academic at law, society and politics commentator and a cultural production critic

Enjoy!
10 Jun 2024 English South Africa Books · Society & Culture

Other recent episodes

There's Something I Must Tell You by Sue Williamson (with Penny Siopis)

"The sweep of it, seeing all those years, is quite extraordinary for an artist." Internationally renowned South African artist Penny Siopis sits down with Sue Williamson for a wide-ranging conversation on her new book There's Something I Must Tell You, published to accompany her landmark retrospective at the Iziko South…
5 Oct 21 min

Kitsie: Memoir of a Bomb-Squad Bok by Steven Kitshoff (with Nick Mallett)

"There was a job to be done." Legendary Springbok coach Nick Mallett sits down with former Springbok prop Steven Kitshoff for a rich, generous conversation on his new memoir Kitsie: Memoir of a Bomb-Squad Bok. They unpack the origins of the Bomb Squad — the name that came from a…
23 Sep 29 min

The South African Cookbook by Nokx Majozi (with Zola Nene)

"An opportunity to hold and be held." This one is a joy from start to finish. Chef, food stylist and best-selling cookbook author Zola Nene sits down with Chef Nokx Majozi for a conversation that feels less like an interview and more like two sisters at the kitchen table. Together…
14 Sep 36 min

Pagecast at OBF 2026: Athi-Patra Ruga and Lethogonolo Mokogroane in conversation

For the final episode of Pagecast at the 2026 Open Book Festival, Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane is joined by Athi-Patra Ruga. Athi-Patra Ruga is a South African multidisciplinary artist whose work explores archives, spirituality, colonial histories and speculative world-building across performance, film, tapestry, sculpture and installation. He is also the co-founder of…
6 Sep 11 min

Pagecast at OBF 2026: Natalie Sifuma and Alma-Nalisha Cele in conversation

Natalie Sifuma is a Kenyan writer, researcher, and consultant currently based in Cape Town. She is the founder of Sisters in Climate — a Pan-African climate initiative — and is completing an MPhil in Inclusive Innovation at UCT’s Graduate School of Business, with a focus on social impact, climate, and…
6 Sep 11 min