BLACK HISTORY MONTH 1 – 31 October

6 “Write because you enjoy it”

PIONEERING + INVENTIVE MARGARET BUSBY FIRST BLACK WOMAN NEU.ORG.UKPUBLISHER BLACK Lesson ideas HISTORY MONTH PIONEERING + INVENTIVE 1 – 31 October

FAKE NEWS PUBLISHING Margaret talks about technology GROUND BREAKING PUBLISHER allowing people to be their own What is a publisher? What sort publisher. Margaret can see the 6MARGARET BUSBY of job would it be and would potential of the web for democracy. you like to do it? What kind of Link Margaret to your work on digital books would you publish? literacy and critical thinking. Margaret was born She started off with virtually Use original source materials in Accra in Ghana to no money but was determined about the black publishing parents who had roots in to print volumes of poetry to prescence in the UK since the Barbados, Trinidad and make them accessible and eighteenth century (see Black Dominica. affordable to young people Cultural Archives website). like Margaret. They produced 15,000 poetry books at 5 shillings. WOMEN WRITING Margaret became Britain’s first Black Ask your students to woman book publisher research and review one - and the youngest - Margaret and Clive of the pieces of writing when she co founded a stopped people on the in Busby’s ‘Daughters of publishing company in street and asked them to Africa’ book. 1967, Allison & Busby, buy their books, because with Clive Allison. internet didn’t exist. AFRICAN WOMEN Margaret believed the Women of African descent have made internet would enable huge contributions to literature, the more people to share arts and British culture. their ideas, their writing Margaret was and their poetry. Why are their contributions still so passionate about over-looked in British history and the Margaret was asked women’s writing and curriculum? Visit the NEU website for to serve as a judge publishing work by creative curriculum ideas. on many panels women. In 1992 she edited including the “Daughters of Africa: An Commonwealth Book international Anthology Prize, the OCM Bocas of words and writings by Prize for Caribbean women of African descent.” literature and Caine Prize for African writing. For more information about any of NEU.ORG.UK these figures or Black History Month, visit neu.org.uk/black-history-month NEU1506/0819