Payback Press
The Payback Press was a specialist imprint of Canongate Books devoted to reprints of essays on Black culture, which later branched out into contemporary Black fiction and classic crime novels. Of the former category, the first three novels published by the imprint were "Blues People" by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), "Black Talk" by Ben Sidran, and "The New Beats" by S.H. Fernando, Jr. Notable fiction and classic crime novels included Chester Himes and Clarence Cooper Jr and Iceberg Slim. The imprint's name references the James Brown song The Payback (song), which, explained by Jamie Byng, head of Canongate Books, addressed the need of "repaying a debt by making people more aware of the tremendous importance of black culture and its role in our lives." Payback Press is credited for potentially saving certain books from obscurity, either relaunching books that had gone out of print or had never been published in the UK.
Notable books published by Payback Press
Fiction
Black, Clarence Cooper, Jr.The Farm, Clarence Cooper, Jr.The Scene, Clarence Cooper, Jr.Weed & The Syndicate, Clarence Cooper, Jr.- Howard Street, Nathan HeardThe Harlem Cycle , Chester HimesThe Lonely Crusade, Chester HimesNot Without Laughter, Langston HughesOne People, Guy KennawayUnder African Skies, ed. by Charles LarsonIndaba, My Children, Credo MutwaPortrait of a Young Man Drowning, Charles PerryGiveadamn Brown, Robert Deane PharrThe Nigger Factory, Gil Scott-HeronThe Vulture, Gil Scott-HeronCorner Boy, Herbert SimmonsMan Walking on Eggshells, Herbert SimmonsDeath Wish, Iceberg SlimAirtight Willie and Me, Iceberg SlimLong White Con, Iceberg SlimMama Black Widow, Iceberg SlimTrick Baby, Iceberg SlimDoom Fox, Iceberg SlimThe Jones Men, Vern SmithPanther, Melvin Van PeeblesOne for New York, John A. WilliamsSpooks, Spies, and Private Eyes, ed. by Paula L. Woods