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Part of the Story

Writings from Half a Century

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Part of the Story

By: Margaret Busby
Narrated by: Margaret Busby, Sara Powell
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This rare self-portrait from pioneering publisher, writer and cultural activist Margaret Busby underscores her powerful legacy and celebrates some of the people and places that have shaped her exceptional life

Margaret Busby has been at the heart of cultural life in the UK for over 50 years. From becoming Britain’s youngest and first Black woman publisher when she founded publishing house Allison & Busby, to editing the ground-breaking international anthologies Daughters of Africa and New Daughters of Africa, her many achievements are testament to her dedication to championing the lives and stories of others, particularly those throughout the world who have been marginalised by the mainstream.

With little attention previously given to her own skills as a writer, Part of the Story is a unique opportunity to enjoy her own remarkable literary output. It brings together her writings on people, places, politics and publishing, and provides a rich insight into the many elements that have contributed to shaping her life, from her childhood in Ghana to the Black writers, intellectuals, artists and activists she has worked with, befriended, supported and championed for over half a century.

© Margaret Busby 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

 Americas Black & African American Essays Literary History & Criticism Social Sciences United States Words, Language & Grammar Writing & Publishing Africa Inspiring Social justice
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Critic reviews

Celebrated as Britain's youngest and first Black female publisher, Margaret Busby revolutionised literary London . . . Margaret's writing, like her thinking, is incisive , unflinching, sharply funny and exact . . . In her prose and in person, Margaret neither shows off her expertise nor flaunts her achievements. Her lightness of presence is that of the consummate editor: fully focused and committed while working and thinking outwards. She understands the power of writing that is born out of personal imperative and framed by collective endeavour. She deflects attention and is quick to point out the activity going on around her, and the importance of sharing and passing on what you learn . . . Writing in 1985, she quoted her friend and fellow editor Toni Morrison, but could have been speaking for herself: "What I really want to do . . . is to make it possible for someone else to do the same things." She has and she does and she will (Lavinia Greenlaw)
The record of one woman’s lifelong passion for the literature and life of Africa and its diaspora, wherever she finds it. A beautiful collection (Zadie Smith)
Her elegantly written obituaries act as condensed histories of a wide selection of notable figures . . . This is a thrilling collection, amply demonstrating that Busby’s sensitivity and confidence as an editor were rooted in her own considerable literary ability
Looking at the British (and indeed, international) literary world over the past half-century, it would be hard to find a more crucial or inspiring figure than publisher, critic, writer and activist Margaret Busby . . . Part of The Story is really a kind of extraordinary autobiography . . . Busby's writing on others is personal, informed and generous. She gives us her heart within the pages, not to mention her wisdom and wit . . . Her own voice is glorious, allowing her erudition and strength to shine through. An important and wonderful book
Credited with changing the world of publishing over the past half-century . . . Busby, the UK’s first Black woman publisher, did much to deliver new voices — from Africa, from the Caribbean and elsewhere — to the nation’s bookshelves and is cited as an inspiration by authors from Zadie Smith to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, as well as many small independent publishers keen to break new ground . . . A cultural flight recorder, illuminating a time before gender and race equality laws but also reviving some of the great voices and issues on both sides of the Atlantic, drawing in a cast ranging from Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison to Gil Scott-Heron and Paul Theroux
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