Honorary Doctorate
UJ CONFERS HONORARY DOCTORATE ON PUBLISHING PIONEER MARGARET BUSBY
all of which are now central to university reading lists (on colonialism, neocolonialism, anticolonial struggle, African feminism, black feminism, decolonisation, and equality), may not have been seen. Busby was honoured with a Doctor of Philosophy in recognition of her reshaping the literary and intellectual landscape globally. Busby serves on boards and advisory committees, such as English PEN, the Royal Literary Fund, the Caine Prize for African Writing, and Wasafiri Magazine. She judged preeminent literary prizes, including the Booker Prize, Caine Prize for African Writing, OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, Commonwealth Book Prize, and the British Book Awards. Her most prolific contribution is her 1992 edited collection, Daughters of Africa, and its sequel, New Daughters of Africa (2019), which convened together over 200 women writers from Africa and its diasporas writing across a rich diversity of genres. In 2019, she was awarded the Africa Writes Lifetime Achievement Award by the Royal African Society and, in 2020, was named one of the 100 Great Black Britons of the preceding 400 years. In 2021, she became Commander of the Order of the British Empire, a title awarded by the monarch of the United Kingdom for distinguished service or exceptional achievement. Encouraging young minds of the future Busby addressed the graduates, congratulating them on their achievement and sharing in their moment of joy.
“It’s a wonderful morning. How privileged I feel to be receiving this recognition from the University of Johannesburg – the first educational institution on African soil to honour me – on this extraordinary continent where I was born. This acknowledgement is special, something I will never forget.” These were the emotional words shared by Margaret Busby after an honorary doctorate was conferred on her at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) for her dedication to critical African scholarship and publishing. Busby was the first black woman, and youngest at the time, to become a publisher in the 1960s in the United Kingdom. While she has found the accolades she has received over the years heartwarming, becoming a publisher was something she knew she had to do. “I did what I did because I couldn’t not do it. I thought it was a good thing that needed to be done. While historically, I might be the first to have done something considered worthwhile, I wouldn’t want to be the only. And the best reward for me is to have inspired others to believe they can do likewise,” said the 80-year-old. A Publishing Powerhouse In the 1960s, Busby teamed up with Clive Allison to start a publishing company, Allison & Busby. They offered an independent publishing house for an array of texts – from crime and thriller series to erudite treatises on revolution and freedom. Allison & Busby challenged institutional racism to give generations access to fiction and nonfiction works from around the world. Without her efforts, many critical and foundational texts,
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