Margaret Busby

Pioneering publisher, writer and cultural activist Margaret Busby talks about her life and her work to champion the lives and stories of others, in particular those who have been marginalised.

Part of the Story is the first published book of someone who has spent their life promoting and publishing the work of others. It brings together half a century of writings on people, places, politics, publishing and on her life from childhood in Ghana to the Black writers, intellectuals and artists she has worked with.

Busby became Britain’s youngest and first Black publisher when she co-founded Allison & Busby in the 1960s. As editorial director she published the likes of Sam Greenlee, James Ellroy, Michèle Roberts, Roy Heath, Michael Horowitz, Buchi Emecheta, Chester Himes, Hunter S. Thompson, George Lamming, Michelangelo, and Jill Murphy. Busby edited the ground-breaking anthologies Daughters of Africa and New Daughters of Africa, which championed the work of more than 400 women of African descent over several centuries. She has also worked as a reviewer, scriptwriter, lyricist, radio and TV presenter, activist and mentor, judged literary prizes such as the Booker, and is currently president of English PEN.