MARGARET BUSBY CBE, Hon. FRSL.
Publisher • Writer • Editor • Broadcaster
Visionary publisher, groundbreaking author and editor Margaret Busby, paved her own way as Britain’s youngest and first Black female publisher in 1967. Challenging White British mainstream literature, she platformed Black radical voices, permanently transforming the landscape of international publishing.
Why Hackney?
For Margaret Busby, Hackney is connected to a lifelong commitment to Black publishing, literature and community. Having “moved four decades ago” to the borough, she describes her connection to Hackney through her “bond with CLR James himself”. James and her father were “lifelong friends” from their school days in Trinidad, and from the 1970s, Busby was “proud to be CLR’s publisher” at Allison & Busby, bringing “new and ever-necessary focus” to his remarkable writings.
When Hackney Council proposed removing C.L.R. James’s name from the Dalston library and renaming it in 2010, Busby played a key role in the community campaign to retain it. The new Dalston C.L.R. James Library opened its doors in 2012.
Reflecting on her recognition, Busby described being featured on the Hackney Writers Legacy Steps as “an honour” and the Children’s Black Book Fair unveiling at the library as “a win-win situation”.
Did you know?
Margaret Busby was a friend of the American writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin. In 2024, she spoke at the unveiling of a blue plaque in Dalston commemorating Baldwin’s visit to the former C. L. R. James Library in 1985.