James Currey

James Currey, an imprint of Boydell & Brewer since 2008, has long been recognized as the leading publisher of academic books on Africa. Founded in 1984, when James Currey left Heinemann Educational Books, this independent imprint continued his personal engagement in African publishing, which began with his first job at Oxford University Press, Cape Town, and continued through his role as publisher of the Heinemann African Writers series (an account of those exciting years can be found in his book, Africa Writes Back, available in the UK from Boydell & Brewer.)

We specialize in publishing research carried out across the African continent, particularly in the fields of Anthropology, Archaeology, History, Politics, Economics, Development Studies, Urban Studies, Religion, Gender Studies, Literature, Film Studies, and the Humanities and Social Sciences generally. We are well known for our longstanding series on Eastern Africa, Western Africa and African Issues, more recently established series on African Articulations and Religion in Transforming Africa, and our annual volumes of African Literature Today, as well as numerous single-authored books and edited collections which are published as standalone volumes. We have recently begun a new series Making and Remaking of the African City: Studies in Urban Africa.

We are dedicated to distributing books about Africa in Africa and have long been noted for co-publication with African co-publishers to make the books more affordable. This policy continues with Boydell & Brewer, wherever possible working with African publishers. Outside Africa, apart from our original paperback series African Issues, we publish first in hardback, with a guaranteed paperback within two years of the first publication. Alongside the hardback we publish both epdf and epub ebooks worldwide. New titles in the James Currey imprint also benefit from the Boydell & Brewer global marketing network. Our newsletter African Griot includes articles on the books published and special offers; if you wish to subscribe please click here.

In March 2019, the James Currey Collection was opened at the University of Oxford’s St Cross College, containing copies of every book published by James Currey since its foundation. St Cross continues to receive a copy of every book published by us.