Barry Ronge


Barry Johann Ronge is a South African journalist, columnist, writer, broadcaster, movie reviewer and raconteur. He is arguably the country's best-known movie critic as well as one of its most widely read columnists.
Ronge was born in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, and grew up on the West Rand where he attended Florida Park High School. He completed his studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, after which he began a teaching career at St. John's College, followed by a ten-year stint as a lecturer in literature at the University of the Witwatersrand.
He later moved on to become a print and electronic journalist, specializing in the arts.
Ronge is probably best known for his Spit and Polish column in the Sunday Times, his movie reviews for the same newspaper, and his Sunday evening show on Radio 702. After writing for the Sunday Times for 27 years he wrote his last column on 23 February 2014. In 2015 the Sunday Times renamed its prize for South African literature to the Barry Ronge Fiction Prize.

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