Margaret Busby
Margaret Yvonne Busby OBE, Hon. FRSL (born 1944, also titled Nana Akua Ackon) is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisher[1][2] when in the 1960s she co-founded with Clive Allison (1944–2011)[3] the London-based publishing house Allison and Busby (A & B).[4] She edited the anthology Daughters of Africa (1992), and its 2019 follow-up New Daughters of Africa.[5] She is a recipient of the Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature.[6]
Margaret Busby OBE, Hon. FRSL | |
---|---|
Busby in February 2019 | |
Born | Margaret Yvonne Busby 1944 (age 75–76) |
Nationality | Ghanaian |
Other names | Nana Akua Ackon |
Alma mater | Bedford College, London University |
Occupation |
|
Organization | Allison & Busby (co-founder) |
Relatives | Moira Stuart (cousin) Phyllis Christian (cousin) Clara Marguerite Christian (aunt) |
Education and early years
Margaret Yvonne Busby was born in 1944,[7][8][9] in Accra, Gold Coast (present-day Ghana), to Dr George Busby and Mrs Sarah Busby (née Christian), who both had family links to the Caribbean, particularly to Trinidad, Barbados and Dominica. Dr Busby (1899–1980)[10] was a lifelong friend of Kwame Nkrumah's mentor George Padmore[11] and attended school with C. L. R. James at Queen's Royal College, winning the Island Scholarship, which enabled him to travel to Britain in 1919 to study medicine.[12] After initial studies at Edinburgh University, he transferred to University College, Dublin, to complete his medical qualifications, after which he practised as a doctor in Walthamstow, east London,[13] before relocating to settle in the Gold Coast in 1929.[14][15] Through her maternal line, she is a cousin of BBC newscaster Moira Stuart,[16][17][18] and her grandfather was George James Christian (1869–1940),[19] a delegate at the First Pan-African Conference in London in 1900,[20][21] who migrated to the Gold Coast in 1902.[22][23]
Leaving school in Sussex[24] when she was 15, Busby went on to study English at Bedford College, London University,[25] where she edited her college literary magazine as well as publishing her own poetry, and graduated with a BA Honours degree at the age of 20.[26] She was married to British jazz musician and educator Lionel Grigson (1942–1994).[3]
Publishing
While still at university she met her future business partner Clive Allison at a party in Bayswater Road,[27] and they decided to start a publishing company.[3] After graduating, Busby briefly worked at the Cresset Press – part of the Barrie Group – while setting up Allison and Busby (A & B), whose first books were published in 1967,[28] making her the then youngest publisher as well as the first African woman book publisher in the UK – an achievement she has assessed by saying: "[I]t is easy enough to be the first, we can each try something and be the first woman or the first African woman to do X, Y or Z. But, if it's something worthwhile you don't want to be the only. ...I hope that I can, in any way, inspire someone to do what I have done but learn from my mistakes and do better than I have done."[29]
She was Allison & Busby's Editorial Director for 20 years,[30] publishing many notable authors including Sam Greenlee (author of The Spook Who Sat by the Door, the first novel published by A & B, in 1969),[31][32] C. L. R. James,[33] Buchi Emecheta, Chester Himes, George Lamming, Roy Heath, Ishmael Reed, John Edgar Wideman, Nuruddin Farah, Rosa Guy, Val Wilmer, Colin MacInnes, H. Rap Brown, Julius Lester, Geoffrey Grigson, Dermot Healy, Adrian Mitchell, Jill Murphy, Christine Qunta, Michael Horovitz, Carlos Moore, Michèle Roberts, Molefe Pheto, Arthur Maimane, Giles Gordon, Clive Sinclair, Chris Searle, Richard Stark, James Ellroy, Hunter S. Thompson, B. Traven, Alexis Lykiard, Jack Trevor Story, Michael Moorcock, John Clute, Julian Savarin, Ralph de Boissière, Andrew Salkey, Harriet E. Wilson, and Miyamoto Musashi.[27]
Busby was subsequently Editorial Director of Earthscan (publishing titles by Han Suyin, Frantz Fanon, Albert Memmi, René Dumont, Carolina Maria de Jesus, and others),[30] before pursuing a freelance career as an editor, writer, and critic.
Writing, editing and broadcasting
As a journalist, she has written for The Guardian (mainly book reviews[34][35][36][37] or obituaries of artists and activists including Jessica Huntley, Buzz Johnson, Jayne Cortez, Jan Carew, Rosa Guy, Gwendolyn Brooks, June Jordan, Toni Cade Bambara, Florynce Kennedy, Barry Reckord, Frank Crichlow, Connie Mark, Glenn Thompson, August Wilson, Pearl Connor-Mogotsi, Geraldine Connor and Binyavanga Wainaina),[38] The Observer,[39] The Independent,[40] The Sunday Times,[41] the New Statesman,[42] and elsewhere, for both the general press and specialist journals.[24][43]
Daughters of Africa (1992) and New Daughters of Africa (2019)
Busby compiled Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present (London: Cape, 1992),[44][45] described by Black Enterprise as "a landmark", which includes contributions in a range of genres by more than 200 women.[46] Widely reviewed on publication,[47][48] it is now chacterised as containing work by "the matriarchs of African literature. They pioneered 'African' writing, in which they were not simply writing stories about their families, communities and countries, but they were also writing themselves into the African literary history and African historiography. They claimed space for women storytellers in the written form, and in some sense reclaimed the woman's role as the creator and carrier of many African societies' narratives, considering that the traditional storytelling session was a women's domain."[49]
Busby edited a 2019 follow-up volume entitled New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent (first published by Myriad Editions), featuring another 200-plus writers from across the African diaspora.[6][50][51][52] A reviewer in The Irish Times commented: "Sometimes you need an anthology to remind you of the variety, strength and nuance of writing among a certain region or group of people. New Daughters of Africa is indispensable because African voices have been silenced or diminished throughout history, and women’s voices even more so."[53]
Connected with the 2019 anthology, the "Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award" was announced by the publisher, in partnership with SOAS, University of London, that will benefit an African woman student.[54][55][56][57]
Other book work
Busby has contributed to books including Colours of a New Day: Writing for South Africa (eds Sarah LeFanu and Stephen Hayward, 1990), Mothers: Reflections by Daughters (ed. Joanna Goldsworthy, 1995),[58] IC3: The Penguin Book of New Black Writing in Britain (eds Kadija Sesay and Courttia Newland, 2000),[59] Why 2K? Anthology for a New Era (2000), The Legacy of Efua Sutherland (2007), Essays in Honour of Ama Ata Aidoo at 70 (2012),[60] 99 words (ed. Liz Gray, 2011),[61] If I Could Tell You Just One Thing...: Encounters with Remarkable People and Their Most Valuable Advice (by Richard Reed, 2016),[62] and Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible (by Elizabeth Uviebinené and Yomi Adegoke, 2018).[63]
In 2014, she co-authored with Ishmahil Blagrove Carnival: A Photographic and Testimonial History of the Notting Hill Carnival.[64] Among other books for which she has written introductions or forewords are the Penguin Modern Classics edition of A Question of Power by Bessie Head, Emerging Perspectives on Buchi Emecheta (ed. Marie Umeh, 1996), and Beyond Words: South African Poetics (with Keorapetse Kgositsile, Don Mattera, Lebo Mashile and Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, 2009).[65] With Darcus Howe, Busby co-edited C.L.R. James's 80th Birthday Lectures (Race Today Publications, 1984),[66] and she is co-editor with Beverley Mason FRSA of No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990, a 2018 publication arising out of the 2015–16 exhibition No Colour Bar held at the Guildhall Art Gallery.[67]
Busby was a prominent participant in the major 2019 exhibition Get Up, Stand Up Now: Generations of Black Creative Pioneers at Somerset House,[68][69] and contributed an introductory essay for the catalogue.[70][71]
Broadcasting and dramatizations
Busby has regularly worked for radio and television since the late 1960s, when she presented the magazine programme London Line for the[ Central Office of Information,[72] as well as Break For Women on the BBC African Service,[28] and later Talking Africa on Spectrum Radio, in addition to appearing on a range of programmes including Kaleidoscope, Front Row, Open Book, Woman's Hour, and Democracy Now! (USA).[12]
Her abridgements and dramatizations for BBC Radio include books by C. L. R. James, Jean Rhys, Wole Soyinka, Timothy Mo, Sam Selvon, Walter Mosley, Henry Louis Gates, Lawrence Scott and Simi Bedford. Busby's play based on C. L. R. James's novel Minty Alley was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998,[73][74] winning a Commission for Racial Equality "Race in the Media Award" (RIMA) in 1999.[75][76] She was also involved with Penumbra Productions, an independent production company, with members including Horace Ové, H. O. Nazareth, Farrukh Dhondy, Mustapha Matura, Michael Abbensetts and Lindsay Barrett, among whose projects was a series of films based on lectures by C. L. R. James in the 1980s.[77][78][79]
Her writing for the stage includes Sankofa (1999),[80] Yaa Asantewaa – Warrior Queen (UK/Ghana, 2001–02),[81][82][83][84] directed by Geraldine Connor,[85][86] and An African Cargo (Greenwich Theatre, 2007) directed by Felix Cross.[87][88][89][90][91] She has also been a song lyricist.[92][93]
In 2014, following the death of Maya Angelou, Busby scripted a major tribute entitled Maya Angelou: A Celebration, which took place on 5 October at the Royal Festival Hall during the Southbank Centre's London Literature Festival; directed by Paulette Randall, and chaired by Jon Snow and Moira Stuart, the celebration featured contributions from artists including Adjoa Andoh, Angel Coulby, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicola Hughes, Ella Odedina, NITROvox, Roderick Williams and Ayanna Witter-Johnson.[94][95][96][97]
Literary activism
She has worked continuously for diversity within the publishing industry and in the 1980s was a founding member of the organization Greater Access to Publishing (GAP),[98][2][28] which engaged in campaigns for increased Black representation in British publishing.[99][100] Other members of this multi-racial group, which held a conference in 1987 particularly to highlight publishing as an option for Black women, included Lennie Goodings, Maggie Scott, Ros de Lanerolle, Yvonne Collymore, Paula Kahn, Toks Williams, Kothai Christie, and Jacqui Roach.[101]
Busby was the patron of Independent Black Publishers (IBP),[30][102] a trade association chaired by Verna Wilkins. The aim of IBP, as Busby was quoted as saying, was to "provide a forum for progressive black publishers to share initiatives, maximise mutual strengths and identify common difficulties, with a view to having a more effective impact on the book trade and the wider publishing industry", and in 2007 at the London Book Fair a joint IBP stand showcased the books of Bogle-L'Ouverture Press, Tamarind Books, the X Press, Ayebia Clarke Publishing, Joan Anim-Addo's Mango Press, and other ventures.[103]
A participant in numerous literary festivals and conferences internationally, Busby has interviewed and been "in conversation" with such writers as Toni Morrison,[104] Wole Soyinka,[105] Nawal El Saadawi,[106][107] and Ngugi wa Thiong’o.[108]
Busby was appointed chair of the 2020 Booker Prize judges, other members of the panel including Lee Child, Sameer Rahim, Lemn Sissay, and Emily Wilson.[109] Busby has previously judged several other literary competitions, among them the Caine Prize for African Writing,[110] the Orange Prize, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize,[111] the Wasafiri New Writing Prize,[112] the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature,[113] the Commonwealth Book Prize (for which she was chair of the judges in 2012),[30] Africa39,[114] and the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa (chair of judges, 2018).[115][116] She has served on the boards or in advisory positions for other cultural organisations, including the Drum Arts Centre,[117] The Africa Centre, London, English PEN, the Royal Literary Fund, the African & Caribbean Music Circuit, the Hackney Empire theatre, the Organization of Women Writers of Africa,[118] the Etisalat Prize for Literature,[119] and Wasafiri magazine.[120] She is currently a trustee of jazz education organization Tomorrow's Warriors,[121][122] and of Nubian Jak Community Trust, and Prize Ambassador of the SI Leeds Literary Prize.[123]
Influence
In 2018, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote, The Voice newspaper listed Margaret Busby – alongside Kathleen Wrasama, Olive Morris, Connie Mark, Fanny Eaton, Diane Abbott, Lilian Bader, and Mary Seacole – among eight Black women who have contributed to the development of Britain.[124] She was also named by the Evening Standard on a list of 14 "Inspirational black British women throughout history" (alongside Mary Seacole, Claudia Jones, Adelaide Hall, Olive Morris, Joan Armatrading, Tessa Sanderson, Doreen Lawrence, Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Sharon White, Malorie Blackman, Diane Abbott, Zadie Smith and Connie Mark).[125]
Also in 2018, she was among 150 "Leading Women" celebrated by the University of London to mark the 150 years since women gained access to higher education in the UK in 1868,[126] and featured in the exhibition Rights for Women: London's Pioneers in their Own Words staged at Senate House Library from 16 July to 15 December 2018.[127]
In July 2019, she was awarded the inaugural Africa Writes Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to her at the British Library during the Royal African Society's annual literary weekend by Ade Solanke and Diane Abbott as part of the festival headline event celebrating Busby's anthology New Daughters of Africa.[128][129][130][131]
Busby is frequently cited as a pioneer in the history of Black publishers in the UK,[132][133] and is acknowledged as a "pathfinder" by those who followed in her footsteps working towards making the books industry and its output more diverse, among them Bibi Bakare-Yusuf (who when speaking of founding Cassava Republic Press said: "Inspirational figures in publishing such as Margaret Busby, co-founder of Allison & Busby, were our guide"),[134] Ellah Wakatama Allfrey,[135] Valerie Brandes of Jacaranda Books,[136] Sharmaine Lovegrove of Dialogue Books,[137] and Aki Schilz of The Literary Consultancy.[138]
In UK Black History Month 2019, Zadie Smith said that Busby "has been a cheerleader, instigator, organiser, defender and celebrator of black arts for the past 50 years, shouting about us from the rooftops, even back when few people cared to listen. 'We can because she did' is a cliché but in Margaret's case it is both true and no exaggeration. She helped change the landscape of both UK publishing and arts coverage and so many Black British artists owe her a debt. I know I do."[139] Afua Hirsch described Busby's impact on her career by saying that "as a black woman trying to find my own voice, [Margaret] has been endlessly interested, supportive and enthusiastic about helping a generation like me find our place and our ability to make change through writing."[140]
Awards and recognition
- 1970: Society of Young Publishers Award.[141]
- 1977: Featured in Mayotte Magnus exhibition Women, photographs of eminent British women, at National Portrait Gallery, reprised in 2018 as Illuminating Women.[142][143][144]
- 1993: Pandora Award.[141] from Women in Publishing.
- 1998: Honorary Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) International Region.[145]
- 1999: Race in the Media Award for radio play Minty Alley.[12]
- 1999: Ghanaian traditional honour as Nana Akua Ackon, Cape Coast.[146]
- 2004: Open University Honorary Doctorate[147] for Services to the Arts and Sciences.
- 2004: Featured in "A Great Day in London" photograph at British Library among 50 Black and Asian writers who have made major contributions to British literature.[148][149]
- 2006: Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to Literature and to Publishing.[150]
- 2011: Honorary Fellowship, Queen Mary, University of London.[151]
- 2015: Henry Swanzy Award for Distinguished Service to Caribbean Letters, NGC Bocas Lit Fest, Trinidad.[152][153]
- 2015: UK African Heritage High Achievers Recognition Award.[154] from the House of Amau.[155][156]
- 2015: Honorary Membership of PAWA (Pan African Writers Association) Award, Ghana.[157]
- 2017: Elected Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.[158][159]
- 2017: Awarded the Benson Medal by the Royal Society of Literature for lifelong achievement.[160]
- 2017: Goldsmiths University of London event "Daughter of Africa: Celebrating Margaret Busby's 50 Years in Publishing and Beyond"[161]
- 2018: Selected as one of University of London's 150 "Leading Women" to celebrate 150 years of women's higher education in the UK.[162]
- 2019: Inaugural Africa Writes Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal African Society[163]
- 2019: Honorary doctorate from SOAS, University of London[164]
- 2020: Honorary degree from Royal Holloway, University of London[165][166]
References
- "Margaret Busby", African Writing Online, October/November 2007.
- Jazzmine Breary, "Let’s not forget", in Writing the Future: Black and Asian Writers and Publishers in the UK Market Place, Spread the Word, April 2013, p. 30.
- Margaret Busby, "Clive Allison obituary", The Guardian, 3 August 2011.
- "Black History Month in Britain: Great women you should know about", Newsround, BBC, 1 October 2018.
- Margaret Busby, "From Ayòbámi Adébáyò to Zadie Smith: meet the New Daughters of Africa", The Guardian, 9 March 2019.
- Natasha Onwuemezi, "Busby to compile anthology of African women writers", The Bookseller, 15 December 2017.
- "Order of the British Empire | Dr. Margaret Yvonne Busby", The London Gazette, 31 December 2005, SUPPLEMENT No. 1, p. N9.
- "Margaret Busby-Edited Anthology to Feature 200 Female Writers Including Adichie, Aminatta Forna, Bernadine Evaristo, Imbolo Mbue, Warsan Shire, Zadie Smith". brittlepaper.com. 10 January 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
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- Tony Martin, The Progress of the African Race Since Emancipation and Prospects for the Future, Port-of-Spain: Emancipation Support Committee/Dover, MA: The Majority Press, 1998, pp. 8–9.
- "Blue Plaque Honouring Dr George Alfred Busby father of Margaret Busby to be Unveiled Mar 9", Alt A Review, March 2020.
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- Thomson Fontaine, "George James Christian: Pioneer in Africa", TheDominican.net, Volume No. 1, Issue No. 32, 27 November 2002.
- Gary Crosby, "RIP Ken Gordon (1927–2013)", 9 November 2013.
- Stephen Owoahene Acheampong, "Book Review: Returned Exile: A Biography of George James Christian of Dominica and the Gold Coast, 1869-1940", Contemporary Journal of African Studies 4(2):179, June 2017.
- Lester Lewis, "Pan Africans On The Rise Again", RaceandHistory.com, 23 January 2001.
- Marika Sherwood, Origins of Pan-Africanism: Henry Sylvester Williams, Africa, and the African Diaspora, Routledge, 2011, p. 336, note 13.
- Rouse-Jones, Margaret; Estelle Appiah (2016). Returned Exile: A Biography of George James Christian of Dominica and the Gold Coast, 1869–1940. Mona, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press. ISBN 978-9766405885.
- Dr Glenville Ashby, "A Defining Moment In Black History", The Gleaner, 30 April 2017.
- Margaret Busby, "We are the world: Trumpeting our words", Griffith Review, 59: Commonwealth Now, January 2018.
- Alison Donnell, "Busby, Margaret", Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture, Routledge, 2002.
- "London's most remarkable Publishing Firm", Ebony, March 1971, pp. 43–50.
- "Margaret Busby remembers Clive Allison". Poetry Book Society. 5 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016.
- Margaret Busby, "'Is it still a case of plus ça change?'", The Bookseller, 4 November 2016. "Black Books", New Statesman, April 1984.
- Ellen Mitchell and Sophie Kulik, "Q&A: Margaret Busby on ‘New Daughters of Africa’", Africa In Words, 29 June 2019.
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- Allison & Busby page at George Padmore Institute website.
- Emma Bartholomew, "CLR James’ publisher Margaret Busby: ‘My 50 years working with books’", Hackney Gazette, 25 January 2017.
- "Do the Harlem shuffle – Margaret Busby explores the tangled life and work of Chester Himes in James Sallis' biography", The Guardian, 21 October 2000.
- "'I am headed for higher ground' – Reading the final instalment of Maya Angelou's memoir is painful but moving, says Margaret Busby", The Guardian, 15 June 2002.
- "Marvels of the holy hour: Margaret Busby is fascinated by Wole Soyinka's witty, dramatic account of his life, You Must Set Forth at Dawn", The Guardian, 26 May 2007.
- Margaret Busby, "Little Liberia: An African Odyssey in New York City by Jonny Steinberg – review", The Guardian, 12 March 2011.
- Margaret Busby profile at The Guardian.
- Margaret Busby, "The Last Holiday: A Memoir by Gil Scott-Heron – review", The Observer, 5 February 2012.
- Margaret Busby, The Independent.
- Margaret Busby, "Books: Another Day in the Death of America by Gary Younge" (review), The Sunday Times, 25 September 2016.
- Margaret Busby, "Homing instinct" (review of Black Gold of the Sun: searching for home in England and Africa by Ekow Eshun), New Statesman, 30 May 2005.
- Margaret Busby at Journalisted.
- Philip Tew, Emily Horton, Leigh Wilson (eds), The 1980s: A Decade of Contemporary British Fiction, A&C Black, 2014, p. 108.
- "Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby", Kinna Reads, 24 September 2010.
- Tonya Bolden, "Book Review: Two Types of Revelation – Daughters of Africa", Black Enterprise, March 1993, p. 12.
- Patricia Lee, "BOOK REVIEW / Canon to the right of them, canon to the left...", The Independent, 12 December 1992.
- Nicci Gerrard, "Anthologies", The Observer, 29 November 1992.
- Tom Odhiambo, "‘New Daughters of Africa’ is a must read for aspiring young women writers", Daily Nation (Kenya), 18 January 2020.
- John Gulliver, "Africa’s ‘new daughters’ celebrated in a new anthology", Camden New Journal, 15 March 2019.
- Imani Perry, "New Daughters of Africa — a new anthology of a groundbreaking book", Financial Times, 29 March 2019.
- Alannah Francis, "New Daughters Of Africa: Amplifying Black Women's Voices", The Voice, 31 March 2019.
- Sally Hayden, "New Daughters of Africa review: vast and nuanced collection", The Irish Times, 16 March 2019.
- "Publisher Myriad and SOAS to launch The Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award", SOAS, 15 February 2019.
- Natasha Onwuemezi, "SOAS partners with Myriad to launch bursary scheme for African women writers", The Bookseller, 15 February 2019.
- "Myriad And SOAS Launch £20,000 Bursary For Black Women", The Voice, 21 February 2019 (archived).
- Olatoun Gabi-Williams, "Call Them Feminist Press: Celebrating African Women in Literature", Academia.edu, 2019.
- Jessica Mann, "Dishing the Dirt", Literary Review, March 1995, p. 31.
- Maya Jaggi, "The forgotten past", The Guardian, 24 June 2000.
- "Notes on the Contributors and Editors" in Discourses of Empire and Commonwealth, Cross/Cultures, Vol. 192, Brill/Rodopi, 2016, ISBN 9789004335967.
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- Richard Reed, If I Could Tell You Just One Thing, Canongate, 2016.
- Arifa Akbar, "How to be a black woman and succeed: two friends who have written the manual", The Guardian, 24 June 2018.
- "Fantastic new photobook celebrates the history of Notting Hill Carnival", It's Nice That, 22 August 2014.
- Irene Gaitirira, "Will Leading Poet and Activist’s Death Inspire Young Authors and Poets?", Lola Kenya Screen, 7 January 2018.
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- "NEW WORKS AND EVENTS FOR GET UP, STAND UP NOW: GENERATIONS OF BLACK CREATIVE PIONEERS ANNOUNCED", 12 June – 15 September 2019, WEST WING GALLERIES, SOMERSET HOUSE, LONDON.
- "Get Up, Stand Up Now: Generations of Black Creative Pioneers", Museum Geographies, 4 August 2019.
- Margaret Busby, "HORACE OVÉ AND NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL", 22 August 2019.
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- Rachel Holmes, "Black History Month: A – Z", The Metropolist, 3 October 2014.
- Lloyd Lewis Hayter, "Maya Angelou – A Celebration, Southbank Centre – review", Afridiziak Theatre News, 7 October 2014.
- Margaret Busby, "A healing pen, a letterbox smile: Auntie Maya, angel of the South", The Sunday Times, 28 September 2014.
- "London Literature Festival 2014 Southbank Centre". 12 August 2014. p. 22.
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- Margaret Andrews, Doing Nothing Is Not An Option: The Radical Lives of Eric & Jessica Huntley, UK: Krik Krak, 2014, p. 149.
- Tricia Wombell, "Books and Spoken Word Interview: Meet Margaret Busby", Lime.
- Andrews (2014), Doing Nothing Is Not An Option, pp. 149–50.
- S. L. Bridglal, "Tea with Toni Morrison", The Observer, 27 December 2015.
- "Wole Soyinka at 80", Africa Writes 2014.
- Kelechi Iwumene, "Africa Writes 2016: The Round-Up".
- "On Being A Woman Writer: Nawal El Saadawi in conversation", Africa Writes, 2 July 2016.
- "Africa Writes: Two Writers, Two Generations", Africa Writes 2014.
- Chandler, Mark (7 January 2020). "Child, Busby and Sissay join 2020 Booker Prize judging panel". The Bookseller. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
- "About Us — People", The Caine Prize.
- Boyd Tonkin, "The long-list for this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize", The Independent, 2 April 2009.
- "New Writing Prize 2009", Wasafiri.
- Ivette Romero, "The Bocas Lit Fest: The Trinidad and Tobago Literary Festival", Repeating Islands, 7 February 2011.
- Margaret Busby, "Africa39: how we chose the writers for Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014", The Guardian, 10 April 2014.
- Inemesit Udodiong, "Wole Soyinka Prize For Literature goes to 2 joint winners from Uganda and Nigeria", Pulse Nigeria, 10 December 2018.
- Ninsiima Julian, "Uganda’s Harriet Anena wins Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa 2018", PML Daily, 10 December 2018.
- Gus John, "Obituary: Cy Grant, November 8, 1919 – February 13, 2010", Stabroek News, 28 February 2010.
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- "Leading Women 1868–2018", University of London.
- Maria Castrillo, "Celebrating London’s pioneers of progress in their own words", Leading Women, University of London.
- Otosirieze Obi-Young, "Pioneering Publisher & Editor Margaret Busby Receives the Inaugural Africa Writes Lifetime Achievement Award", Brittle Paper, 10 July 2010.
- "Africa Writes: Margaret Busby OBE awarded Lifetime Achievement in African Literature", Alt Africa Review, 12 July 2019.
- "Meet the Headliners – Africa Writes 2019", Africa Writes, Royal African Society.
- Adanech Tadesse, "A Life Transcending Borders: The Legacy of Margaret Busby OBE", Africa Writes.
- Kadija George, "Raising the Visibility of Black British Publishers", And Other Stories, 9 June 2017.
- Satch Hoyt, "Margaret Busby: What it takes to be the first Black Woman Publisher in the UK – Part 2", Afro-Sonic Mapping, 9 July 1919.
- Zukiswa Wanner, "Bibi Comes to London", New African Vol. 561, May 2016.
- Ellah Wakatama Allfrey (2017), "An Interview with Margaret Busby", Wasafiri, 32:4, pp. 2–6, DOI: 10.1080/02690055.2017.1350364.
- Dennis Abrams, "On Publishing Genre Fiction in Africa", Publishing Perspectives, 16 October 2014.
- "Sharmaine Lovegrove: ‘If you don’t have a diverse workforce or product, sooner or later you won’t exist’", The Guardian, 18 March 2018.
- "Women In Publishing: n Interview with the Kim Scott Walwyn Prize", 30 May 2019.
- Serina Sandhu and Heather Saul, "The black women who inspired me: 'So many black British artists owe her a debt' | This Black History Month, leading black women tell i about the trailblazing black women who inspired them", i, 29 October 2019.
- Niamh McCollum, "#ShareBlackStories is throwing a spotlight on the black British experience", Marie Claire, 15 October 2019.
- Black Power: Photographs by Donald MacLellan, National Portrait Gallery.
- "Mayotte Magnus: Photographs of Women", National Portrait Gallery 21 October to 11 December 1977.
- "Judi! Edna! Glenda! Women who lit up the 70s – in pictures", The Guardian, 16 October 2018.
- Tim Keane, "Photographing the Women of British Art", Hyperallergic, 19 January 2019.
- AKA International Region at Sigma Theta Omega Chapter.
- "Diversity – Margaret Busby" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, EMMA (Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy).
- "Doctor of the University 1973–2011" Archived 13 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Honorary Degree Awards 1973–2011
- Andrea Levy, "Made in Britain. To celebrate the impact of their different perspectives, 50 writers of Caribbean, Asian and African descent gathered to be photographed. Andrea Levy reports on a great day for literature", The Guardian, 18 September 2004.
- Kevin Le Gendre, "Books: A great day for a family get together; Who are the movers and shakers in black British writing? And can they all fit on one staircase?", The Independent on Sunday, 17 October 2004.
- "31st December, 2005, New Year Honours" Archived 22 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Government News.
- Honorary Fellows Archived 27 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Queen Mary, University of London.
- "Margaret Busby, OBE" (Biography) Archived 19 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine, NGC Bocas Lit Fest.
- "Bocas Henry Swanzy Award for Distinguished Service to Caribbean Letters" Archived 2 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine, NGC Bocas Lit Fest.
- "UK African Heritage High Achievers Recognition Award Presentation Ceremony", House of Amau, 30 September 2015.
- "UK Afrikan Heritage High Achievers Award", House of AMAU, London, 23 August 2015.
- "Another Honour for Margaret Busby OBE", George Padmore Institute, 20 October 2015.
- Evelyn Osagie, "Echoes of Achebe’s works at writers’ show", The Nation (Nigeria), 25 November 2015.
- Natasha Onwuemezi, "Rankin, McDermid and Levy named new RSL fellows", The Bookseller, 7 June 2017.
- "Current RSL Fellows". Royal Society of Literature.
- "The Benson Medal", Royal Society of Literature.
- "Daughter of Africa: Celebrating Margaret Busby's 50 Years in Publishing and Beyond", Goldsmiths, 1 December 2017.
- "Leading Women gather in St James’s Palace to celebrate 150 years of women’s higher education in the UK", University of London, 30 January 2019.
- Olatoun Gabi-Williams, "Margaret Busby Wins Inaugural Royal African Society Africa Writes Lifetime Achievement Award in African Literature", Academia.edu, 2019.
- "SOAS celebrates leading figures from the world of literature, law, journalism and finance honoured at this year’s graduation", SOAS, 15 July 2019.
- "Honorary Awardees 2020", Staff Intranet, Royal Holloway, University of London, 1 October 2019.
- Emilio Costales, "Pioneering publisher Margaret Busby comes to Royal Holloway", Royal Holloway Enterprise Hub, 15 November 2019.
External links
- Articles by Margaret Busby, Journalisted.
- "Women's History Month: We Celebrate Margaret Busby OBE", The Voice, 31 March 2017.
- Shereen Ali, "Sharing our Voices", Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, 29 April 2015.
- John Stevenson, "Margaret Busby: Doyenne of Black British Publishing", Black History Month 365, 28 September 2016.
- Shola von Reinhold, "What happened to Britain’s black avant-garde fiction writers?", Voices, The Independent, 12 May 2019.
- Ellen Mitchell and Sophie Kulik, "Q&A: Margaret Busby on ‘New Daughters of Africa’", Africa In Words, 29 June 2019.
- Claire Shepherd, "Margaret Busby OBE – 'Africa Writes – Lifetime Achievement'", Culturepulse Magazine (September Issue), 31 August 2019, pp. 9–14.
- "People of Letters | 2019", Museum of Colour, "Margaret Busby" (Photography by Sharron Wallace).
- Satch Hoyt, "Margaret Busby: What it takes to be the first Black Woman Publisher in the UK – Part 1", "Part 2", "Part 3", Afro-Sonic Mapping, 9 July 1919.
- The Margaret Busby papers, 1978–1989, related to her publication of books by and about C. L. R. James are held at Columbia University Libraries.