In recognition of Black History Month 2020, The Authors’ Club are hosting an online event with Margaret Busby in conversation with Suzi Feay.

Margaret Busby became Britain’s youngest and first black woman publisher when she co-founded Allison & Busby in the late 1960s, presiding as editorial director over an international list of notable authors. A writer, editor, broadcaster and literary critic, she has also written drama for BBC radio and the stage. She has interviewed high-profile writers (among them Toni Morrison and Ngu˜gı˜ wa Thiong’o), judged prestigious literary prizes including the Booker Prize, and served on the boards of such organisations as the Royal Literary Fund, Wasafiri magazine, Tomorrow’s Warriors, and the Africa Centre in London.

A long-time campaigner for diversity in publishing, she is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and recipient of several honorary doctorates and awards, including the Bocas Henry Swanzy Award, the Royal Society of Literature’s Benson Medal, and the Royal African Society’s inaugural Africa Writes Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award was launched in 2020 by Myriad Editions and SOAS to recognize the publication of New Daughters of Africa and honour Margaret’s work within the literary world.

New Daughters of Africa was published to international acclaim in 2019. This landmark anthology celebrates the work of 200 women writers of African descent and charts a literary landscape as never before. It is now available in a beautifully produced paperback.  Buy your copy.

The talk will go live at 2pm, Thursday 22 October, on The Authors’ Club YouTube channel. Subscribe now and set a reminder so you don’t miss this exciting conversation!