Born in Stockport, Cheshire, England, Green was schooled at A. S. Neill's Summerhill, while his parents fought in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War.
[1] Green co-founded the literary periodical Nimbus (1951–58) with Tristram Hull and later worked as an editor at MacGibbon & Kee, where he published, alongside Timothy O'Keeffe, books including Nell Dunn's Up the Junction (1963).
[3][4] Green also published books by Flann O'Brien, Hugh MacDiarmid, Francis Stuart, Colin MacInnes,[5] Robert Graves, Frank Sargeson, Paul Potts and many other writers.
[6] While living in London with his wife, the artist Fiona Green, Thabo Mbeki and the (then banned) African National Congress held their meetings in their house in Fitzrovia.
[7] In 1969, with poet Paul Durcan, Green started the poetry quarterly Two Rivers, which was published from his home at 28 Tottenham Street, London.