New Beacon Books
 | |
| Founded | 1966 |
|---|---|
| Founder | John La Rose, Sarah White |
| Country of origin | UK |
| Headquarters location | Finsbury Park, London |
| Nonfiction topics | Black culture; Black British, Caribbean, African, African American and Asian literature |
| Official website | New Beacon Books - Official Website |
New Beacon Books is a British publishing house, bookshop, and international book service that specializes in Black British, Caribbean, African, African American and Asian literature.[1][2][3] Founded in 1966 by John La Rose and Sarah White, it was the first Caribbean publishing house in England.[4][5] New Beacon Books is widely recognized as having played an important role in the Caribbean Artists Movement, and in Black British culture more generally.[6][2]
History
New Beacon Books started out as a publishing house that was run out of John La Rose's and Sarah White's flat in Hornsey, in North London.[4][3] It was named after the Trinidadian journal, The Beacon, which was published between 1931 and 1932.[2][7] In 1967, La Rose and White moved New Beacon Books to new premises, in Finsbury Park, where the company also began to function as a specialist bookstore.[2] Early publications included Foundations by John La Rose (1966), Tradition, the Writer and Society: Critical Essays by Wilson Harris (1967), and a new edition of John Jacob Thomas's 1889 study, Froudacity (1969).[8][7]
Notable works published by New Beacon Books include: Edward Kamau Brathwaite, History of the Voice: The Development of Nation Language in the Anglophone Caribbean (1984); Jane and Louisa Will Soon Come Home (1980) and Myal (1988) by Erna Brodber; Martin Carter, Poems of Succession (1977); Lorna Goodison, I am Becoming my Mother (1986); Mervyn Morris, The Pond (1973) and Shadowboxing (1979); and Andrew Salkey, A Quality of Violence (1978).
See also
References
- ↑ Donnell 2002, p. 299.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Phillips 2011.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sankar 1996.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Alleyne 2002, p. 41.
- ↑ Johnson 2006.
- ↑ Walmsley 1992, p. 90-1.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Alleyne 2002, p. 42.
- ↑ Walmsley 1992, p. 90.
Sources
- Alleyne, Brian W. (2002). Radicals Against Race: Black Activism and Cultural Politics. Oxford: Berg. ISBN 1-85973-527-4.
- Donnell, Allison (2002). "New Beacon Books". In Allison Donnell. Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture. London: Routledge. pp. 299–300. ISBN 0-415-16989-5.
- Johnson, Linton Kwesi (4 March 2006). "Obituary: John La Rose". The Guardian. p. 39. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- Phillips, Caryl (2011). "John La Rose". Colour Me English. London: Random House. ISBN 9781409028925.
- Sankar, Celia (September–October 1996). "A Caribbean publisher's radical beacon". Americas (English Edition) 48. ISSN 0379-0940.
- Walmsley, Anne (1992). The Caribbean Artists Movement, 1966-1972: A Literary and Cultural History. London: New Beacon Books. ISBN 9781873201015.