Margaret Busby OBE, Hon. FRSL (Nana Akua Ackon) is a major cultural figure in Britain and around the world.
Margaret Busby was born in Ghana and educated in the UK, graduating from London University. She became Britain’s youngest and first black woman publisher when she co-founded Allison & Busby in the late 1960s and published notable authors including Buchi Emecheta, Nuruddin Farah, Rosa Guy, C. L. R. James, Michael Moorcock and Jill Murphy. An editor, broadcaster, and literary critic, she has also written drama for BBC radio and the stage. Her radio abridgements and dramatizations encompass work by Henry Louis Gates, Timothy Mo, Walter Mosley, Jean Rhys, Sam Selvon and Wole Soyinka, among others. She has judged numerous national and international literary competitions, and served on the boards of such organizations as the Royal Literary Fund, Wasafiri magazine and the Africa Centre.
A long-time campaigner for diversity in publishing, she is the recipient of many awards, including the Bocas Henry Swanzy Award in 2015, the Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature and, most recently, the inaugural Royal African Society—Africa Writes Lifetime Achievement Award. She lives in London.
Interviews and Features
How The Stories Of Black Women In The UK Are Being Reclaimed by Paula Akpan
‘Looking to the future, Busby believes that not only is it important to have black women writing corrective histories but also to have them in positions where they’re able to publish said histories. “I’m often in spaces where people think it’s more important to be a writer over a publisher but who is going to tell these stories? Who is going to make these stories and histories a priority if we’re relying on white gatekeepers to let them through the door? We need writers, publishers, editors and more. We need to participate in every sphere and be part of the process in every sense so that we can enable other people to pass on those histories.”‘
Paula Akpan, columnist and co-founder of Black Girls Fest quotes Margaret Busby in an article on the stories and experiences of black women in the UK for Refinery29. Read in full HERE.
New Daughters of Africa at Somerset House Exhibition
Somerset House invited contributors to the New Daughters of Africa anthology to their current exhibition celebrating the past 50 years of Black creativity; Get Up, Stand Up Now! The evening featured Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Yemisi Aribisala, Yaba Badoe, Jacqueline Bishop, Yrsa Daley-Ward, Anni Domingo, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Bridget Minamore and Margaret Busby in conversation and reading from their own work, as well as the work of others in the anthology.
Picture taken by Lisa Lee.
New Daughters of Africa at Open Book Festival in Cape Town
New Daughters of Africa events are filling diaries all over the globe, including Cape Town where New Daughters were invited to talk at Open Book Festival. Pictured: Yewande Omotoso, Sarah Ladipo Manyika and Sisonke Msimang.New Daughters of Africa in Poets & Writers Magazine
New Daughters of Africa featured in the latest issue of Poets & Writers Magazine—a U.S. publication by the nation’s largest nonprofit organisation serving creative writers.
New Daughters of Africa at Edinburgh International Book Festival
Margaret Busby, editor of New Daughters of Africa, was invited to Edinburgh International Book Festival, alongside authors Namwali Serpell, Leila Aboulela, Candice Carty-Williams and Bernardine Evaristo, to discuss and read from the anthology. The women paid tribute to author Toni Morrison, who contributed to the first Daughters of Africa anthology, twenty five years ago. The event was part of the Telling Her Story series of events, celebrating ‘bold, defiant, revolutionary women’.
Paule Marshall and Toni Morrison tribute by Edwidge Danticat for The New Yorker
‘I love both women and was blessed to have spent some time in each of their company. Before I ever saw them in the flesh, I was in awe of their words.’
Author and contributor to New Daughters of Africa, Edwidge Danticat, writes a heartfelt tribute article for Daughters of Africa contributors and iconic black authors, Toni Morrison and Paule Marshall, for The New Yorker.
Read the full piece HERE.
New Daughters of Africa launches in Johannesburg
New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby and featuring over 200 women writers in Africa and its diaspora previously launched in the U.K. in March and at the Uganda International Writers Conference in May. This month, a particularly apt one as August in South Africa is designated as “Women’s Month,” the anthology launched in Johannesburg. James Murua shares photographs from the launch on his literature blog, which you can see HERE.
Margaret Busby on BBC Radio 4: Last Words
Margaret Busby featured on various news reports last week, celebrating revered author Toni Morrison who died on the 5th August 2019. Toni featured in Daughters of Africa, the first anthology edited by Margaret, which she followed with New Daughters of Africa this year. You can hear Margaret talking on BBC Radio 4: Last Words HERE.
Toni Morrison
Nobel-prize winning author Toni Morrison has died at the age of 88. She was the first black woman to receive the Nobel Prize for literature, awarded in 1993. Margaret Busby talks to ITV news about the writer, who paved the way for women writers everywhere. Watch HERE.
Daughters of Toni: A Remembrance by Zadie Smith for Pen America
Author Zadie Smith, contributor to New Daughters of Africa, reflects on the life and influence of Toni Morrison as part of PEN America’s tribute to the late Nobel laureate.
‘In 1992, my mother’s close friend, the Ghanaian born, legendary Black-British publisher Margaret Busby, published the first volume of Daughters of Africa, in which Morrison was of course included, alongside more than two hundred contributors. Its title came from the words of Maria W. Stewart, the first African-American woman to give public lectures: “O, ye daughters of Africa, awake! awake! arise! no longer sleep nor slumber, but distinguish yourselves. Show forth to the world that ye are endowed with noble and exalted faculties.” A year after that, Morrison won the Nobel Prize. A year after that, I went to university to embark on a course of English Literature which included not a single daughter of Africa nor any sons either. Change was a long time coming, but Morrison stayed out front, leading us into the future, like a pilot light.’
Read in full HERE.
SOAS Honorary Doctorate for Margaret Busby
SOAS University of London has awarded an honorary doctorate to Margaret Busby, editor of New Daughters of Africa.
Baroness Valerie Amos, Director of SOAS, called Margaret a pioneer and innovator who has ‘sought to bring about change in the world’.
SOAS is the leading Higher Education institution in Europe specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East.
Best African Books of 2019, African Arguments
‘It has been a long time since a book created the kind of buzz and excitement which has surrounded New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent.’ New Daughters of Africa features on a list of The Best African Books of 2019 by Samira Sawlani for African Arguments.
Africa Writes at the British Library
The Africa Writes inaugural Lifetime Achievement in African Literature award was presented to Margaret Busby. The award was presented to Busby by writer Ade Solanke and Diane Abbott MP as part of the festival headline event celebrating the anthology New Daughters of Africa. (Image of author and New Daughters of Africa contributor Bernardine Evaristo with Margaret Busby at Africa Writes, British Library).
New Daughters of Africa at Africa Writes Bristol
Africa Writes Bristol was an amazing weekend of ideas, books, conversation and laughter. New Daughters of Africa contributors joined editor Margaret Busby to discuss the anthology. (L-R) Margaret Busby, Namwali Serpell, Leone Ross and Sharmaine Lovegrove at Africa Writes Bristol, June 2019.
Mambo Magazine: 5 Books to Read This Summer
New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby and featuring over 200 African women contributors has been chosen by Mambo magazine as one of the top 5 books to read this summer.
Hay Festival 2019
Henny Beaumont, author of Hole in the Heart, was artist in residence at Hay Festival Wales 2019, capturing events and atmosphere over the final weekend. Here is her sketch of the wonderful Margaret Busby in conversation with New Daughters of Africa contributor, Bernardine Evaristo. You can see all of Henny’s sketches over on the Hay Festival Facebook page HERE.
Myriad authors awarded at the Royal Society of Literature summer party
The Royal Society of Literature elected 45 new Fellows and Honorary Fellows last week at the annual RSL summer party.
New Daughters of Africa contributors Catherine Johnson and Dorothea Smartt were elected as Fellows alongside To The Volcano author Elleke Boehmer, while New Daughters of Africa contributor Ellah Wakatama Allfrey and Brave New Words editor Susheila Nasta were elected as Honorary Fellows.
Susheila was also awarded the prestigious Benson Medal, for exceptional contributions to the advancement of literature.
Click HERE to read The Bookseller’s write up of the event.
Get Up, Stand Up Now Podcast by Somerset House
Margaret Busby takes part in the Get Up, Stand Up Now podcast by Somerset House, a ‘crafted sound odyssey over five episodes, guided by the voices of Black creative pioneers’, part of the Get Up, Stand Up Now exhibition at Somerset House.
The exhibition will run from 12th June – 15th September, you can book tickets HERE.
New Daughters at Bernie Grant Arts Centre
The event was part of BGAC’s Windrush festival and the contributors joining Margaret Busby on stage all shared a Caribbean heritage: Candice Carty-Williams, Dorothea Smartt, Zadie Smith and Andrea Stuart. The chair was contributor Adeola Solanke.
Africa Writes at the British Museum
Africa Writes heads to the British Museum from the 5th July – 7th July, with New Daughters of Africa as the headline event. The Bookseller covers the festival in their latest newsletter.
New Daughters of Africa on PassBlue
PassBlue, an independent, women-led journalism site, shares excerpts from New Daughters of Africa and discusses the writers who were involved in the publication.
‘The writers in the anthology are often the children of African independence, and they remain placed in their land and deep generational cultures.’ Read more here.
New Daughters of Africa in The Sunday Times South Africa
New Daughters of Africa features in The Sunday Times South Africa.
‘New Daughters of Africa addresses obstacles faced by black women writers. Custom, tradition, friendships, sisterhood, romance, sexuality, intersectional feminism, the politics of gender, identity and more are explored in this collection of work from over 200 writers.’
New Daughters of Africa in the The Times Literary Supplement
New Daughters of Africa received high accolades and front page treatment in The Times Literary Supplement.
‘This remarkable book constitutes a powerful affirmation of literary achievement, demonstrating that contemporary black women writers are part of a vital and extensive tradition. Just as significantly, the anthology brings these works into dialogue with one another, becoming a potent assertion of a collective identity that transcends political, religious, linguistic, regional and generational boundaries… The book’s structure also helps the reader to discern subtle shifts in the way certain themes are represented over time… New Daughters of Africa demonstrates that this work does not exist in a vacuum. Black women writers have always had something significant to say to the world and to each other.’
George Padmore Newsletter
The George Padmore Institute newsletter celebrates the hugely successful launch of New Daughters of Africa, edited by close friend Margaret Busby.
The George Padmore Institute, based in London, is an archive, educational resource and research centre housing materials relating to the black community of Caribbean, African and Asian descent in Britain and continental Europe.
Bustle
Bustle features New Daughters of Africa in their curated list of new books coming out in May 2019.
HYPEBAE 10 Books to Add to Your Summer 2019 Reading List
Ready to be overwhelmed in the very best way? All curated, edited and introduced by Margaret Busby, this collection of work across a wide-range of genres gives us a window into the extraordinary lives of excellent women.
New Daughters of Africa features in HYPEBAE’s 10 books to add to your summer 2019 reading list.
Book of the Week – Greenwich Book Festival
New Daughters of Africa is Book of the Week at Greenwich Book Festival! Catch Margaret Busby, Malorie Blackman, Bridget Minamore and Diana Evans at Greenwich Book Festival on the 15th June. More Information HERE
What happened to Britain’s black avant-garde fiction writers?
‘Why did it take me so long to learn of Margaret Busby, who became the first black woman and youngest publisher in Britain, and whose recent New Daughters of Africa shows black women writers in Britain well before the arrival of the Windrush generation.’
Shola von Reinhold discusses the black writers and creatives who existed in the artistic folds of Britain but whose history wasn’t shared alongside more well-known artists because of the colour of their skin. Shola explores the role Margaret played as the first black woman publisher in Britain, whilst also highlighting other publishers and artists working to promote and celebrate black authors and artists in Britain today. Read the article in full over on the Independent website.
The Female Edit: Alt Africa Review feature New Daughters of Africa
New Daughters of Africa editor Margaret Busby and contributors Adeola Solanke, Candace Allen, Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, Carmen Harris, Yemisi Aribisala, Anni Domingo feature in the Spring 2019 issue of Alt A Review, which you can buy HERE.
Call Them Feminist Press – Celebrating African Women in Literature
‘In this essay, I turn my thoughts away from arresting visual art to focus on a landmark union: Margaret Busby OBE with Candida Lacey of Myriad Editions and 200+ women from Africa and her Diasporas. It is a great literary assembly put together for the purpose of reconstructing perceptions about Africa and her women; celebrating African women in literature and showcasing the dazzling range of their work…’
A fantastic essay on African Women in Literature and New Daughters of Africa by literary journalist and publicist Olatoun Gabi-Williams on the Borders Literature Online website.
A Life Transcending Boarders: Africa Writes
Africa Writes delves into the life of Margaret Busby, discussing her epic contribution to the representation of black women in publishing. ‘By vocalising the narratives of the marginalised, Margaret Busby has expanded the possibility of learning, and has ultimately opened the door for dialogue to occur.’
Read the article in full HERE.
New Daughters of Africa head to Charleston Festival
The Sussex Express features New Daughters of Africa in the run up to Charleston Festival, where Margaret Busby, Diana Evans and Bonnie Greer will be discussing the book on May 22nd at 3pm. Tickets are now available via the Charleston Festival website. Read the full article here.
Olatoun Gabi-Williams for The Guardian Arts
‘At once a war-front, a home-front and a sanctuary for our souls, the page is where Africa’s literary daughters wield our pens like swords to stake our claim to a true feminism whose power, urgency and truth can be found only at gender’s intersections: colonialism, race, culture, class, sexuality, history and nation.’ A fabulous article in The Guardian Arts by Olatoun Gabi-Williams, discussing Margaret Busby, Myriad Editions and New Daughters of Africa. Read in full here.
Of Africa and of India by Marina Salandy-Brown
‘Margaret Busby has returned with New Daughters of Africa to showcase a younger generation of writers, some of whom the literary establishment has yet to recognize adequately, but it also includes superstars like Edwidge Danticat of Haiti, Nigerian, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Zadie Smith (UK) and recently deceased Andrea Levy (UK). Caribbean writers are well represented by the likes of Karen Lord, Claudia Rankine, Lisa Allen Agostini, Malorie Blackman, Nalo Hopkinson, and others, some of whom will join Busby at this year’s festival.’
Marina Salandy-Brown discusses the importance of the title on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
Trinidad Daily Express
Recently published New Daughters of Africa features in an article by Professor Selwyn Cudjoe for the Trinidad Daily Express. He says of Margaret Busby, editor of the book, ‘She remains a prolific African griot who is always doing book reviews and radio programs, writing articles and obituaries, and acting as a one-woman repository of black people’s writing.’
Read the article in full here.
Books in the Media features New Daughters of Africa
Books in the Media featured New Daughters of Africa this month, thanks to fabulous reviews by The Irish Times, The Financial Times and The Bookseller. Read all mentioned reviews here.
New Daughters of Africa: amplifying black women’s voices The Voice Online
‘It’s fitting that New Daughters of Africa was launched in March, because there is an undeniable feeling around the book that history is in fact being made.
The anthology, the brainchild of Margaret Busby, brings together 200 black female writers from across the diaspora. It’s less of a follow up from the first, more of a wonderful and exciting child that’s a testament to the impact of the previous publication of its kind by the writer.
Speaking to Life & Style about the need for the book now, Busby said: “There are so many writers who need to have a light shone on their work, that’s why.’
Alannah Francis for The Voice Online. Read in full here.
Financial Times highlights New Daughters of Africa
Imani Perry, professor of African-American studies at Princeton University, praises New Daughters of Africa in the Financial Times.
‘I have found myself returning to a phrase of one of the writers in the anthology who was new to me. In her 1993 essay “The Autobiography of an Idea”, Arthenia Bates Millican wrote: “I have kissed the darkness hello. And as I move, I search through that darkness for the most brilliant fight.” This is the calling, and the beauty, of both the old and the new daughters of Africa.’
Podcast - Margaret Busby – Why is it so hard for white people to talk about racism? Books Podcast with The Guardian
On this week’s podcast, legendary publisher Margaret Busby joins Claire in the studio to discuss New Daughters of Africa, her follow-up anthology to her groundbreaking collection Daughters of Africa, which established many black female writers as names almost three decades ago.
Hear the podcastAngela Cobbinah and New Daughters of Africa in the Camden New Journal
Camden New Journal reported from the SOAS launch for New Daughters of Africa.‘
‘A raw and touching little memoir of the childhood years of Angela Cobbinah, a regular contributor to the New Journal – and its co-founder in 1982 – has been chosen in a prestigious anthology of the writings of women of African descent, edited by the illustrious publisher Margaret Busby.’
‘It tells of her early years – often puzzling and painful – as the only black child in a Cornish village where she lived with her mother, a Hungarian refugee who had become the local midwife – her father had returned to his native country, Ghana.’
‘Her name sits among such household literary names as Zadie Smith, Chimamanda Adichie, Andrea Levy and Marion Blackman but also many unknowns. Typical of Angela’s writings, her 3,000-word memoir displays a candour and insightfulness that beautifully illustrates a maturing mind caught up in an atmosphere of prejudice and ignorance.’
Read more here.
Vast and Nuanced Collection – The Irish Times featured New Daughters of Africa and loved it
New Daughters of Africa received huge praise in this review of the anthology by The Irish Times.
‘Some of the short stories will make you hold your breath… The result is a necessary wealth of work – a welcome addition to any book shelf and a compulsory education for anyone unaware of the countless gifted African women journalists, essayists, poets and speakers who should influence how we see the world. 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.’
BBC Radio 4, Woman’s Hour
Margaret Bubsby was invited onto Woman’s Hour last week to discuss New Daughters of Africa with Jenni Murray. Listen in full online now.
Podcast - BBC Radio London: Inspirit with Jumoke Fashola
BBC Radio London: Inspirit with Jumoke Fashola invited Margaret Busby onto the show to talk about the newly published New Daughters of Africa this weekend. Listen from 2 hrs 48 mins.
Hear the podcastPodcast - BBC World Service: Weekend
BBC World Service: Weekend featured Margaret Busby to celebrate International Women’s Day, and also the publication day of New Daughters of Africa.
Listen from 42 minutes.
Hear the podcastPodcast - BBC World Service: Focus on Africa
BBC World Service: Focus on Africa invited Margaret Busby on to talk about New Daughters of Africa, the women whose work features within the anthology and the Margaret Busby bursary award (from 14.00-18.00).
Hear the podcastPodcast - BBC World Service: Africa Today with Margaret Busby
BBC World Service: Africa Today featured Margaret Busby, celebrating the launch of New Daughters of Africa (from 15.00 – 19.15).
Hear the podcastTurnaround Book of the Month
‘New Daughters of Africa, compiled by Margaret Busby in a gargantuan editorial feat, showcases the creativity and achievements of contributors including Roxane Gay, Zadie Smith, and Diane Abbott. It is a behemoth of thought and reflection, exploring sisterhood, tradition, romance, race and identity – individually, and at large.’
New Daughters of Africa was chosen by Turnaround as Book of the Month.
The Guardian: Meet the New Daughters of Africa
‘The book reveals works in progress, identities in transition, shapeshifting sensibilities, a delicious mash-up of expectations. Who knew that Nadifa Mohamed, one of Granta’s best young British novelists in 2013, was also a fine poet? The chef Zoe Adjonyoh, from whom cookery writing might have been expected, delivers a memoir of her father that is indeed “A Beautiful Story”. Contributors are drawn to write about countries not theirs by birth: a Zimbabwean shines light on Antigua, Ghana has an impact on a writer from Trinidad.’
‘The aspirational mantra of inclusivity and diversity is increasingly routine, fashionable even, in today’s publishing industry, but lasting change has yet to be achieved. Verna Wilkins, founder of the children’s imprint Tamarind Books, explains in her essay that she began hands-on work creating books in diverse classrooms in the belief that the process must start with children: “They should see themselves as the authors, editors, designers, illustrators and publishers of the future.”’
Margaret Busby wrote an amazing article for The Guardian about New Daughters of Africa. Read it in full here.
10 Books by Brilliant Women Around the World by Red Magazine
To celebrate International Women’s Day, Red magazine chose 10 books by women authors. New Daughters of Africa was one of those spotlighted – check out the entire list here.
WOW Festival
‘Sticking it to the patriarchy for the ninth year running, Women of the World festival returns to the shores of Southbank for a two-day celebration of all things female. This year the line-up is as stellar as ever, including conversations with Catherine Mayer and Naomi Klein as well as the launch of New Daughters of Africa, an anthology of writing by women of African descent. Plus, this year’s event marks the beginning of the WOW Foundation which aims to further the movement in global gender equality.’
It’s not just us who are absolutely thrilled about the upcoming WOW event and New Daughters of Africa launch. The event headlines on Emerald Street’s round up of London events this month.