It is 40 years since businessman Arif Ali sold his Caribbean food store in north London and founded Hansib Publications, a publishing house for Caribbean, African and Asian writers and their communities, the UK Telegraph newspaper reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, Guyana-born Ali remembers: “In the 1960s, mainstream European-led publishing houses rarely published black and minority ethnic (BME) writers’ work, if at all. Little positive was written about us, our cultures, our backgrounds and performances. I went into publishing to print stories and feelings that needed telling and would not be produced elsewhere.”
In 1971, Ali’s firm printed its debut monthly magazine, the West Indian Digest. There then followed a variety of multicultural magazines and newspapers including the Caribbean Times. Ali sold off the titles in 1997 to focus on publishing books. West Indians in Britain, Third World Impact and the Ethnic Minority Directory are among more than 200 titles Hansib has produced since the early 1980s.
Hansib had a significant presence here at Carifesta in 2008. In an interview with the Stabroek Business, he had said that he believed local availability of better publishing facilities can play an important role in encouraging the talents of Guyanese writers. “I have been approached by several Guyanese, some well-known, some not so well known, seeking to have books published and the evidence cannot be denied. There is an abundance of literary talent in Guyana and it needs to be supported by more opportunities for the publishing of books. At the personal level more published books means income for the writers since apart from the local there is also a huge market in the diaspora for titles on Guyana and creative writing by Guyanese writers. What good books will also do is to help market Guyana’s image in the region and overseas,” Ali said.
The Telegraph said that at Hansib’s 40th anniversary celebration last Saturday, six new titles were launched including writer Deanne Heron’s whimsical tales of extended black family life in Britain.
The report said that a quarter of Ali’s writers approach Hansib only after being rejected by other publishers.
A former member of Tony Blair’s 1997 Caribbean advisory group, Ali says: “We’ve been credited with establishing regular visible minority publishing in this country. We’re a catalyst, a springboard into the mainstream”, according to the Telegraph
