1971
Blackstaff Press founded by Jim and Diane Gracey with help of Bass Charrington/Arts Council Award Publication of first Blackstaff title Riotous Living by Rowel Friers

1972
10 titles published including Soundings '72 edited by Seamus Heaney Within Our Province edited by Sam Hanna Bell Narrow Streets by Kenneth McNally

1973 Blackstaff moves from Wandsworth Avenue to Wellington Place 10 titles published including NI Chronology of Events Vol. 1 edited by Deutsch & Magowan Tyrone Folk Quest by Michael J.Murphy

1974
Wellington Place premises (and book stocks) destroyed by fire after bombing of nearby Athletic Stores Blackstaff moves to Donegall Square South 15 titles published including Rhyming Weavers edited by John Hewitt December Bride by Sam Hanna Bell

1975-79
Blackstaff moves to Kincora Avenue in 1976 and to Galway Park in 1979 Approximately 80 titles published including Yours Till Ireland Explodes, Mr Mooney by Harry Barton The New Estate by Ciaran Carson James Young by Jack Hudson Time Enough by John Hewitt The Confessions of Proinsias O'Toole by John Morrow Art in Ulster Vols 1 & 2 by Hewitt & Catto Secrets and Other Stories by Bernard MacLaverty The Sinking of the Kenbane Head by Sam McAughtry The Selected James Simmons edited by Edna Longley Poets from the North of Ireland edited by Frank Ormsby

1980
Jim and Diane Gracey sell Blackstaff to Michael Burns, who appoints editor Anne Tannahill as managing director

1980-95
Michael Burns and Anne Tannahill further develop the Blackstaff list, publishing over 350 titles The work of Blackstaff designer Wendy Dunbar attracts numerous design awards Blackstaff titles receive a wide variety of literary prizes In 1992, the judges of the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Award present Blackstaff with a Special Citation for 'producing books which have genuinely added to a greater understanding between the peoples of Ireland and Britain' In 1992, Blackstaff is named UK Small Publisher of the Year by the Sunday Times, and also wins an AIB Better Ireland Award Titles published during this period include Trio Poetry Vols 1-7 Voices and the Sound of Drums by Patrick Shea Once Upon the Lagan by May Blair Images of Belfast by Johnstone & Kirk Shipbuilders to the World by Hume & Moss The Road to the Somme by Philip Orr The Blackstaff Book of Short Stories Vols 1 & 2 Daddy, Daddy by Paul Durcan The Collected John Hewitt edited by Frank Ormsby A Time to Speak by Helen Lewis A History of Ulster by Jonathan Bardon In Search of a State by Fionnuala O Connor Straight Left by Paddy Devlin Three Irish Orchids by Raymond Piper Modern Irish Poetry edited by Patrick Crotty Minority Verdict by Maurice Hayes Summer Soldiers by A.T.Q. Stewart

1995
Michael Burns sells Blackstaff to the W&G Baird Group Anne Tannahill remains as managing director

1996-2002
Blackstaff continues to publish 20-25 titles a year, including A Year's Turning by Michael Viney Rethinking Unionism by Norman Porter The Birth of the Titanic by Michael McCaughan The Belfast Anthology edited by Patricia Craig The Dancers Dancing by Éilis ní Dhuibhne Northern Protestants by Susan McKay The Shape of Irish History by A.T.Q. Stewart Making Sense of the Troubles by McKittrick & McVea