Margaret Yvonne Busby, CBE, Hon.
FRSL (born 1944), also known as 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 she and Clive Allison (1944–2011) co-founded[3] the London-based publishing house
Allison and Busby (A & B) in the 1960s.[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] In 2020 she was voted one of the "
100 Great Black Britons".[7] In 2021, she was honoured with the
London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award.[8] In 2023, Busby was named as president of
English PEN.
Her parents sent their three children to be educated in England when Busby was five. She and her sister first attended a school in the
Lake District, followed by Charters Towers School, an international girls' boarding-school in
Bexhill-on-Sea,
Sussex.[27][28] After passing her
O-levels there aged 14, Busby left school at 15,[29] went back to Ghana and took her
A-levels at 16,[30] then spent a year at a college in Cambridge so as not to begin university too young.[28] From the age of 17, she studied English at
Bedford College (later merged with
Royal Holloway College),
London University,[31][28] 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.[32] 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,[33] 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,[34] 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."[35]
In October 2023, it was announced that
Hamish Hamilton would be publishing a volume of Busby's collected writings in a year's time.[53]
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),[54][55] described by Black Enterprise as "a landmark", which includes contributions in a range of genres by more than 200 women.[56] Widely reviewed on publication,[57][58] it is now characterised 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."[59]
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 in the UK), featuring another 200-plus writers from across the African diaspora.[6][60][61][62][63] 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."[64]
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),[74]IC3: The Penguin Book of New Black Writing in Britain (eds
Kadija Sesay and
Courttia Newland, 2000),[75]Why 2K? Anthology for a New Era (2000), The Legacy of Efua Sutherland (2007), Essays in Honour of Ama Ata Aidoo at 70 (2012),[76]99 words (ed. Liz Gray, 2011),[77]Black British Perspectives: A Series of Conversations on Black Art Forms (ed. Kadija Sesay, 2011),[78]James Barnor: Ever Young (2015),[79]If I Could Tell You Just One Thing...: Encounters with Remarkable People and Their Most Valuable Advice (by
Richard Reed, 2016),[80][81]Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible (by
Elizabeth Uviebinené and
Yomi Adegoke, 2018),[82] and Chris Fite-Wassilak's The Artist in Time (July 2020).[83][84]
In 2014, Busby co-authored with Ishmahil Blagrove Carnival: A Photographic and Testimonial History of the Notting Hill Carnival.[85] 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), Beyond Words: South African Poetics (with
Keorapetse Kgositsile,
Don Mattera,
Lebo Mashile and
Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, 2009),[86] and To Sweeten Bitter (2017) by
Raymond Antrobus.[87] With
Darcus Howe, Busby co-edited C.L.R. James's 80th Birthday Lectures (
Race Today Publications, 1984),[88] 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.[89][90] The 2023 volume Empire Windrush: Reflections on 75 Years & More of the Black British Experience, edited by
Onyekachi Wambu, includes a Preface by Busby,[91] as does Blazing Trails (2023) by
Gus John.[92]
Busby was a prominent participant in the major 2019 exhibition Get Up, Stand Up Now: Generations of Black Creative Pioneers at
Somerset House,[93][94] and contributed an introductory essay for the catalogue,[95][96] as well as participating in events there.[97]
She has worked continuously for diversity within the publishing industry, writing in a 1984 article in the New Statesman: "Is it enough to respond to a demand for books reflecting the presence of 'ethnic minorities' while perpetuating a system which does not actively encourage their involvement at all levels? The reality is that the appearance and circulation of books supposedly produced with these communities in mind is usually dependent on what the dominant white (male) community, which controls schools, libraries, bookshops and publishing houses, will permit."[141] In the 1980s, she was a founding member of the organization Greater Access to Publishing (GAP),[2][34][142] which engaged in campaigns for increased Black representation in British publishing.[143][144] Other members of this multi-racial group, which held a conference in November 1987 particularly to highlight publishing as an option for Black women,[145] included
Lennie Goodings, Maggie Scott,
Ros de Lanerolle, Yvonne Collymore, Paula Kahn, Toks Williams, Kothai Christie, and Jacqui Roach.[146]
Busby was the patron of Independent Black Publishers (IBP), a trade association chaired by
Verna Wilkins.[36][147][148] 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.[149] In a 2012 interview with Tricia Wombell, Busby said: "It is important to document and celebrate the achievements of many of our Black creatives (…) so that they do not get written out of history simply because their importance may not be recognised by the mainstream."[150]
In March 2024, she gave the keynote address at opening of the Johannesburg Festival of Women Writers, hosted by the
Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study at the
University of Johannesburg,[186][187] which was on the theme "Mothers and Daughters: An Intergenerational Conversation".[188][189] In the same month, she also participated in the 27th Time of the Writer Festival in
Durban, South Africa.[190]
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,[194] 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.[195]
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.[196][197][198][199]
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."[208]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."[209]
She was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the
2021 Birthday Honours for services to publishing.[215] She was quoted in the Hackney Gazette as saying: "Well, I know I did not fall from the sky; whenever I am offered any such award, my accepting it is also on behalf of and to acknowledge everyone who made me what I am, and those whom I have worked with along the way - so I gladly share this recognition with many others who deserve equally to be honoured for contributing excellence in countless spheres of work."[216]
1999:
Enstooled as
Nana Akua Ackon, of Bentsir No. 1
Asafo company, Oguaa (
Cape Coast) – the first of seven traditional warrior groups established to protect the area.[229][230]
2004:
Open University Honorary Doctorate[231] for Services to the Arts and Sciences.
2004: Featured in "A Great Day in London" photograph at the
British Library among 50 Black and Asian writers who have made major contributions to British literature.[232][233]
^
abJazzmine 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,
"Homing instinct" (review of Black Gold of the Sun: searching for home in England and Africa by
Ekow Eshun), New Statesman, 30 May 2005.
^Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Margaret Busby, Diran Adebayo. "Non-Traditional Channels: A Literary Conversation". In: Kadija Sesay (ed.), Black British Perspectives: Conversations on Black Art Forms, London: SAKS Publications, 2011.
^"Beyond a Boundary", BBC, Radio Times, Issue 3787, 22 August 1996: Abridged in five parts (25–30 August 1996) by Margaret Busby, produced by Pam Fraser Solomon.
^McCaskie, T. C. "The Life and Afterlife of Yaa Asantewaa". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, vol. 77, no. 2, 2007, pp. 151–79. JSTOR,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40026704.
^If 2 review by Easy Livin, Progarchives.com, 9 June 2011: "'Shadows and Echoes' was co-written by Lionel Grigson with his then partner Margaret Busby. The late Grigson was well known during the early jazz/fusion scene, and was a member of If prior to the recording of their first album. The songs focuses on the band's softer, lighter side, featuring flute and a fine vocal."
^"Address of Margaret Busby to the opening of the 11th International Book Fair on Thursday March 25th 1993", Sarah White, Roxy Harris & Sharmilla Beezmohun (eds), A Meeting of the Continents: The International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books – Revisited, London:
New Beacon Books/
George Padmore Institute, 2005 (ISBN 978-1873201183), pp. 499–500.
^Margaret Busby, "Foreword: An Open Letter to Ama Ata Aidoo", in Anne V. Adams (ed.), Essays in Honour of Ama Ata Aidoo at 70: A Reader in African Cultural Studies, Ayebia Clarke Publishing, 2012.
^"OWWA's First 20 Years"(PDF). Organization of Women Writers of Africa, Inc. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 23 March 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
^Holly Chant,
"Queens [sic Birthday Honours List 2021: MP Meg Hillier and poet Lemn Sissay among those recognised"], Hackney Gazette, 11 June 2021; updated 14 June 2021.
^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.