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The Payback Press was a specialist imprint of
Canongate Books Canongate Books (trading as Canongate) is an independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Canongate area of the city. It is most recognised for publishing the Booker Prizewinner '' Life of Pi''. Canongate wa ...
devoted to (initially) reprints of classic black crime novels, which later branched out into contemporary black fiction. Notable authors included Chester Himes and
Clarence Cooper Jr Clarence L. Cooper Jr. (1934 – 1978) was an American author. Biography Clarence Cooper Jr. wrote seven crime novels that describe life in Black America, in the underworld of drugs and violence and in jail (''The Farm''). Cooper worked as ...
and
Iceberg Slim Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins Jr.; August 4, 1918 – April 30, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was a former American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's novels were adapted into films. Early life Robert Mau ...
. As with Rebel Inc., after its successful foundation in the late 1990s, it was discontinued due to a financial crisis in its parent company.


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 Heard * ''The Harlem Cycle (Volumes 1-3)'', Chester Himes * ''The Lonely Crusade'', Chester Himes * ''Not Without Laughter'',
Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, H ...
* ''One People'',
Guy Kennaway Guy Kennaway is an English writer specialising in memoir and comic novels. He is represented by Mark Stanton at the North Literary Agency. In 2021 he won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for his comic fiction The Accidental Collector. Bibl ...
* ''Under African Skies'', ed. by Charles Larson * ''Indaba, My Children'', Credo Mutwa * ''Portrait of a Young Man Drowning'', Charles Perry * ''Giveadamn Brown'',
Robert Deane Pharr Robert Deane Pharr (1916–1989 or 1992) was an African-American novelist. Pharr attended Saint Paul's Normal and Industrial School, Lincoln University, Virginia Union University and Fisk University Fisk University is a private historica ...
* ''The Nigger Factory'',
Gil Scott-Heron Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American Jazz poetry, jazz poet, singer, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician ...
* ''The Vulture'', Gil Scott-Heron * ''Corner Boy'', Herbert Simmons * ''Man Walking on Eggshells'', Herbert Simmons * ''Death Wish'',
Iceberg Slim Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins Jr.; August 4, 1918 – April 30, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was a former American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's novels were adapted into films. Early life Robert Mau ...
* ''Airtight Willie and Me'',
Iceberg Slim Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins Jr.; August 4, 1918 – April 30, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was a former American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's novels were adapted into films. Early life Robert Mau ...
* ''Long White Con'',
Iceberg Slim Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins Jr.; August 4, 1918 – April 30, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was a former American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's novels were adapted into films. Early life Robert Mau ...
* ''Mama Black Widow'',
Iceberg Slim Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins Jr.; August 4, 1918 – April 30, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was a former American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's novels were adapted into films. Early life Robert Mau ...
* ''Trick Baby'',
Iceberg Slim Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins Jr.; August 4, 1918 – April 30, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was a former American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's novels were adapted into films. Early life Robert Mau ...
* ''Doom Fox'',
Iceberg Slim Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins Jr.; August 4, 1918 – April 30, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was a former American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's novels were adapted into films. Early life Robert Mau ...
* ''The Jones Men'', Vern Smith * ''Panther'',
Melvin Van Peebles Melvin Van Peebles (born Melvin Peebles; August 21, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the 2000s. His feature film debut, '' The Story of a Three-Day Pass'' ...
* ''One for New York'', John A. Williams * ''Spooks, Spies, and Private Eyes'', ed. by Paula L. Woods


Non-fiction

* ''Fight the Power'',
Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D helped crea ...
* ''The New Beats'', S.H. Fernando, Jr. * ''Born Fi' Dead'', Laurie Gunst * ''
Blues People ''Blues People: Negro Music in White America'' is a seminal study of Afro-American music (and culture generally) by Amiri Baraka, who published it as LeRoi Jones in 1963. In ''Blues People'' Baraka explores the possibility that the history of bl ...
'',
LeRoi Jones Amiri Baraka (born Everett Leroy Jones; October 7, 1934 – January 9, 2014), previously known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka, was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays and music criticism. He was the author of numerous bo ...
(Amiri Baraka) * ''Beneath the Underdog'',
Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians an ...
* ''Black Fire'', Nelson Peery * ''Black Talk'',
Ben Sidran Ben Hirsh Sidran (born August 14, 1943) is an American jazz and rock keyboardist, producer, label owner, and music writer. Early in his career he was a member of the Steve Miller Band and is the father of Grammy-nominated musician, composer an ...
* ''Pimp'',
Iceberg Slim Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins Jr.; August 4, 1918 – April 30, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was a former American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's novels were adapted into films. Early life Robert Mau ...
* ''The Naked Soul of Iceberg Slim'',
Iceberg Slim Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins Jr.; August 4, 1918 – April 30, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was a former American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's novels were adapted into films. Early life Robert Mau ...
* ''Space is the Place'',
John F. Szwed John F. Szwed (born 1936) is the John M. Musser Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, African American Studies and Film Studies at Yale University and an Adjunct Senior Research Scholar in the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University, where he ...
* ''Sweet Sweeback's Badasssss Song'',
Melvin Van Peebles Melvin Van Peebles (born Melvin Peebles; August 21, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the 2000s. His feature film debut, '' The Story of a Three-Day Pass'' ...


Poetry

* ''The Fire People'', ed. by
Lemn Sissay Lemn Sissay FRSL (born 21 May 1967) is a British author and broadcaster. Sissay was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, has been chancellor of the University of Manchester since 2015, and joined the Foundling Museum's board of trus ...


External links


Canongate index of reviews
Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom {{publish-company-stub African-American literature