Allison & Busby (A & B) is a

publishing house Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

established by Clive Allison and

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , 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 publisherJazzmine Breary"Let' ...

in 1967. The company has built up a reputation as a leading

independent publisher A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. Independent press is general ...

Background

Launching as a publishing company in May 1967, A & B in its first two decades published writers including

Sam Greenlee Samuel Eldred Greenlee, Jr. (July 13, 1930 – May 19, 2014) Margaret Busby"Sam Greenlee obituary" ''The Guardian'', June 2, 2014. was an American writer of fiction and poetry. He is best known for his novel '' The Spook Who Sat by the Door'', fir ...

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has work ...

H. Rap Brown Jamil Abdullah al-Amin (born Hubert Gerold Brown; October 4, 1943), formerly known as H. Rap Brown, is a civil rights activist, black separatist, and convicted murderer who was the fifth chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ...

, Buchi Emecheta,

Nuruddin Farah Nuruddin Farah ( so, Nuuradiin Faarax, ar, نورالدين فارح) (born 24 November 1945) is a Somali novelist. His first novel, ''From a Crooked Rib'', was published in 1970 and has been described as "one of the cornerstones of modern East ...

Rosa Guy Rosa Cuthbert Guy () (September 1, 1922Margalit Fox"Rosa Guy, 89, Author of Forthright Novels for Young People, Dies" ''The New York Times'', June 7, 2012. – June 3, 2012) was a Trinidad-born American writer who grew up in the New York metro ...

Roy Heath Roy Aubrey Kelvin Heath (13 August 1926 – 14 May 2008) was a Guyana, Guyanese writer who settled in the UK, where he lived for five decades, working as a schoolteacher as well as writing. His 1978 novel ''The Murderer (Roy Heath novel), The M ...

Aidan Higgins Aidan Higgins (3 March 1927 – 27 December 2015) was an Irish writer. He wrote short stories, travel pieces, radio drama and novels. Among his published works are '' Langrishe, Go Down'' (1966), '' Balcony of Europe'' (1972) and the biographic ...

Chester Himes Chester Bomar Himes (July 29, 1909 – November 12, 1984) was an American writer. His works, some of which have been filmed, include '' If He Hollers Let Him Go'', published in 1945, and the Harlem Detective series of novels for which he is be ...

Adrian Henri Adrian Henri (10 April 1932 – 20 December 2000) was a British poet and painter best remembered as the founder of poetry-rock group the Liverpool Scene and as one of three poets in the best-selling anthology '' The Mersey Sound'', along with ...

Michael Horovitz Michael Yechiel Ha-Levi Horovitz (4 April 1935 – 7 July 2021) was a German-born British poet, editor, visual artist and translator who was a leading part of the Beat Poetry scene in the UK. In 1959, while still a student, he founded the "tr ...

C. L. R. James Cyril Lionel Robert James (4 January 1901 – 31 May 1989),Fraser, C. Gerald, '' The New York Times'', 2 June 1989. who sometimes wrote under the pen-name J. R. Johnson, was a Trinidadian historian, journalist and Marxist. His works are i ...

George Lamming George William Lamming OCC (8 June 19274 June 2022) was a Barbadian novelist, essayist, and poet. He first won critical acclaim for ''In the Castle of My Skin'', his 1953 debut novel. He also held academic posts, including as a distinguished v ...

Geoffrey Grigson Geoffrey Edward Harvey Grigson (2 March 1905 – 25 November 1985) was a British poet, writer, editor, critic, exhibition curator, anthologist and naturalist. In the 1930s he was editor of the influential magazine ''New Verse'', and went on to p ...

Jill Murphy Jill Murphy (5 July 1949 – 18 August 2021) was a British author and illustrator of children's books. First published in 1974 at the age of 24, she was best known for the ''Worst Witch'' novels and ''Large Family'' picture books, with sales amo ...

Andrew Salkey Andrew Salkey (30 January 1928 – 28 April 1995) was a Jamaican novelist, poet, children's books writer and journalist of Jamaicans, Jamaican and Panamanian origin. He was born in Panama but raised in Jamaica, moving to Britain in the 1952 to pu ...

, Ishmael Reed,

Julius Lester Julius Bernard Lester (January 27, 1939 – January 18, 2018) was an American writer of books for children and adults and an academic who taught for 32 years (1971–2003) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Lester was also a civil right ...

, Alexis Lykiard,

Colin MacInnes Colin MacInnes (20 August 1914 – 22 April 1976) was an English novelist and journalist. Early life MacInnes was born in London, the son of singer James Campbell McInnes and novelist Angela Mackail, who was the granddaughter of the Pre-Rap ...

Arthur Maimane John Arthur Mogale Maimane (5 October 1932 – 28 June 2005), better known as Arthur Maimane, was a South African journalist and novelist. Biography Maimane was born in Pretoria, South Africa, growing up in the black township of Lady Selborne.D ...

Adrian Mitchell Adrian Mitchell FRSL (24 October 1932 – 20 December 2008) was an English poet, novelist and playwright. A former journalist, he became a noted figure on the British Left. For almost half a century he was the foremost poet of the country's C ...

Ralph de Boissière Ralph Anthony Charles de Boissière (6 October 1907 – 16 February 2008) was a Trinidad-born Australian social realist novelist. Described as "an outspoken opponent of racism, injustice, greed and corruption, a passionate humanist with a vision ...

, Gordon Williams, Alan Burns,

John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part o ...

James Ellroy Lee Earle "James" Ellroy (born March 4, 1948) is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, ...

Giles Gordon Giles Alexander Esmé Gordon (23 May 1940 – 14 November 2003) was a Scottish literary agent and writer, based for most of his career in London. Early life and education The son of Esmé Gordon (1910–1993), an architect and Honorary Sec ...

Clive Sinclair Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry, and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronics ...

Jack Trevor Story Jack Trevor Story (30 March 1917 – 5 December 1991) was a British novelist, publishing prolifically from the 1940s to the 1970s. His best-known works are the 1949 comic mystery ''The Trouble with Harry'' (which was adapted for Alfred Hit ...

John Edgar Wideman John Edgar Wideman (born June 14, 1941) is an American novelist, short story writer, memoirist, and essayist. He was the first person to win the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction twice. His writing is known for experimental techniques and a focus o ...

Val Wilmer Valerie Sybil Wilmer (born 7 December 1941) is a British photographer and writer specialising in jazz, gospel, blues, and British African-Caribbean music and culture. Her notable books include ''Jazz People'' (1970) and ''As Serious As Your Lif ...

Margaret Thomson Davis Margaret Thomson Davis (24 May 1926 – 14 June 2016) was a Scottish writer of novels about Glasgow life, beginning with her popular 1972 novel, '' The Breadmakers''. Biography Thomson Davis was born in Bathgate, West Lothian, and was three years ...

Dermot Healy Dermot Healy (9 November 1947 – 29 June 2014) was an Irish novelist, playwright, poet and short story writer. A member of Aosdána, Healy was also part of its governing body, the Toscaireacht. Born in Finea, County Westmeath, he lived in ...

Richard Stark Donald Edwin Westlake (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer, with more than a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into ...

B. Traven B. Traven (; Bruno Traven in some accounts) was the pen name of a novelist, presumed to be German, whose real name, nationality, date and place of birth and details of biography are all subject to dispute. One certainty about Traven's life is ...

Simon Leys Pierre Ryckmans (28 September 1935 – 11 August 2014), better known by his pen name Simon Leys, was a Belgian-Australian writer, essayist and literary critic, translator, art historian, sinologist, and university professor, who lived in Austral ...

, and others. Among the imprint's original titles are '' The Spook Who Sat by the Door'' (1969), '' Behold the Man'' (1969), ''

The Final Programme ''The Final Programme'' is a novel by British science fiction and fantasy writer Michael Moorcock. Written in 1965 as the underground culture was beginning to emerge, it was not published for several years. Moorcock has stated that publishers a ...

'' (1969), '' The English Assassin'' (1972), ''

The Worst Witch ''The Worst Witch'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by Jill Murphy. The series are primarily about a girl who attends a witch school and fantasy stories, with eight books published. The first, ''The Worst Witch'', was ...

'' (1974), ''

The Bride Price ''The Bride Price'' is a 1976 novel (first published in the UK by Allison & Busby and in the USA by George Braziller) by Nigerian writer Buchi Emecheta. It concerns, in part, the problems of women in post-colonial Nigeria. The author dedicated t ...

'' (1976), ''

The Lives and Times of Jerry Cornelius ''The Lives and Times of Jerry Cornelius'' is a collection of short stories by British fantasy and science fiction writer Michael Moorcock. It is part of his long-running Jerry Cornelius series. The book was originally published by Allison & Busb ...

'' (1976), ''

The Condition of Muzak ''The Condition of Muzak'' is a novel by British fantasy and science fiction writer Michael Moorcock, published by Allison & Busby in 1977. It is the final novel of his long-running Jerry Cornelius series. It was first published in its revised ...

'' (1977), ''

Gloriana ''Gloriana'', Op. 53, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Lytton Strachey's 1928 ''Elizabeth and Essex: A Tragic History''. The first performance was presented at the Royal Opera Ho ...

'' (1978), '' The Chairman's New Clothes: Mao and the Cultural Revolution'' (1979), and '' The True History of the Elephant Man'' (1980). The company was acquired by W. H. Allen Ltd in 1987, was subsequently part of

Virgin Publishing Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. History Virgin established its book publishing arm ...

, and has since "evolved and thrived under various independent managers", including Peter Day and David Shelley. A & B is now owned by Spanish publisher Javier Moll's Editorial Prensa Ibérica."New face at Allison & Busby"
Publishing News Digital Archive, Kingston University Information Services, 25 February 2005. The current Publishing Director, appointed in 2005, is Susie Dunlop, and the imprint publishes "an array of books, from crime and thrillers to literary, historical and women's fiction, to fantasy, memoirs, and books on popular culture." At the time of the company's founding, Margaret Busby was the UK's youngest and the first black woman publisher; she left the company in 1987.Shereen Ali
"Sharing Our Voices"
, ''

Trinidad Guardian The ''Trinidad and Tobago Guardian'' (together with the ''Sunday Guardian'') is the oldest daily newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago. The paper is considered the newspaper of record for Trinidad and Tobago. History Its first edition was published ...

'', 29 April 2015. Clive Allison died on 25 July 2011.

References

External links

Allison & Busby website.

Allison & Busby Books
on Facebook. {{DEFAULTSORT:Allison and Busby 1967 establishments in England Allison and Busby books Book publishing companies based in London British companies established in 1967 Publishing companies based in London Publishing companies established in 1967