Arif Ali (born 13 March 1935)Asher & Martin Hoyles, ''Caribbean Publishing in Britain: A Tribute to Arif Ali'', Hansib Publications (2011), 2015, p. 97. is a Guyanese-born publisher and newspaper proprietor who migrated to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1957. The company he founded in 1970, Hansib, was among pioneering publishers in the UK that disseminated publications of relevance to Britain's black community, others being

New Beacon Books New Beacon Books is a British publishing house, bookshop, and international book service that specializes in Black British, Caribbean, African, African-American and Asian literature. Founded in 1966 by John La Rose and Sarah White, it was the ...

(1966) and Bogle-L'Ouverture (1968)."A lifetime in publishing: Arif Ali and the Hansib story"
'' Stabroek News'', 3 September 2008. Hansib went on to become the largest black publisher in Europe.

Biography

Family background and early years

One of seven children, Arif Ali was born in Danielstown, on the Essequibo coast, British Guiana (now Guyana); two of his grandparents were

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n indentured labourers,Rob Hayward,
"Arif Ali of Hansib Publications"
Colourful Radio, 19 March 2015. but by the time of his birth the family had become wealthy landowners.

Marika Sherwood Marika Sherwood (born 1937) is a Hungarian-born historian, researcher, educator and author based in England. She is a co-founder of the Black and Asian Studies Association. Biography Sherwood was born in 1937 into a Jewish family living in Budap ...

"Caribbean Publishing in Britain. A Tribute to Arif Ali" (reviews)
''Reviews in History'',

Institute of Historical Research The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate Hou ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, July 2011. After graduating from high school in Georgetown, Ali left on 12 August 1957 for London, England, intending to study economics,"A lifetime in publishing: Arif Ali and the Hansib story"
'' Stabroek News'', 3 September 2008. and arrived at Victoria Station on 3 September, having travelled to Britain via the Canary Islands, Spain, Italy and France.Adwoa Korkor
"Forty and still going strong"
Angela Cobbinah, 30 October 2010. He initially worked at different jobs, including on the buses and as a porter in a hospital — where in 1958 he met a young English nurse named Pamela who three months later became his wife.

First business ventures

In 1966 Ali started to run a greengrocer's in Tottenham Lane, an area with a significant Caribbean population in

north London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

, and before long, as

Carolyn Cooper Carolyn Cooper CD (born 20 November 1950) is a Jamaican author, essayist and literary scholar. She is a former professor of Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. From 1975 to 1980, she was an assist ...

notes, "his business place became a vibrant cultural centre".Carolyn Cooper
"Seaga's Jamaica? Absolutely!"
'' Jamaica Gleaner'', 7 March 2010, One of the few outlets for Caribbean provisions such as yams, plantains and cassava, the shop also sold newspapers brought in from Caribbean countries including Guyana,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

and

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

: "The newspapers served to connect West Indians in the diaspora with their respective home territories." Ali progressed from this to producing on a

Gestetner The Gestetner is a type of duplicating machine named after its inventor, David Gestetner (18541939). During the 20th century, the term ''Gestetner'' was used as a verb—as in ''Gestetnering''. The Gestetner company established its base in Londo ...

machine a cheaply priced compilation of articles called ''The Westindian'', a venture that proved successful. He sold the food shop and in 1970 founded Hansib Publications — named after his parents, Haniff and Nasibun (Sibby) — specifically to cater for this readership and in April 1971 the company published ''The Westindian Digest'', a magazine for Britain's West Indian communities. In 1973 Hansib published its first book, edited by Ali and entitled ''Westindians in Great Britain''. New editions of this "Who's Who" came out in subsequent years, and with the fifth edition in 1982, the name of the publication was changed to ''Third World Impact''.

Newspaper publishing

Ali's career as a newspaper publisher started in 1973 with the acquisition of ''West Indian World'' from its then owner Aubrey Baynes, who had launched the paper in mid-1971 but had become disillusioned with its financial viability. Under Ali's editorship the ''West Indian World'' prospered, campaigning on various educational issues that were affecting black schoolchildren in Britain. Ali went on to further engage and communicate with the Caribbean, African and Asian communities by establishing the ''Asian Digest'' (August 1980), the newspapers ''

Caribbean Times ''The Caribbean Times'' was a British weekly newspaper that was first published in 1981 by Hansib Publications, a publishing house for Caribbean, African and Asian writers and their communities, founded in London by Guyana, Guyanese-born busines ...

'' (1981), ''Asian Times'' (1983) and ''African Times'' (1985), as well as ''Root'' magazine (1987)."About Us"
Hansib website. By the 1990s he had a staff of 140, publishing three weekly papers and two monthly magazines. The circulation of the ''Caribbean Times'' peaked at 28,000, with average sales of about 10,000 copies.

Book publishing

In 1997 Ali sold his newspapers in order to concentrate on book publishing, and Hansib remains "the biggest and most diverse black book publisher in Britain". Talking to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in 2010, Ali said: "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." By the time of its 40th anniversary, in 2010, Hansib had brought out more than 200 titles, in categories encompassing politics, history, culture, sport, cookery, to multicultural literature including poetry, fiction and memoir, with claims to have for more than four decades "reflected and chronicled the achievements and struggles, the turmoils and frustrations, and the hopes and dreams of Britain's Caribbean, African and Asian communities." Ali himself has edited some of the company's successful titles, among them the Nations Series, illustrated portraits of countries, such as ''Jamaica Absolutely'', ''Trinidad and Tobago: Terrific and Tranquil'' and ''Guyana at 50: Reflection, Celebration and Inspiration''. In parallel with his publishing activities, Ali has been involved over the years with various Black political organisations, and was public relations officer for the West Indian Standing Conference, an umbrella organisation comprising more than 40 UK-based African and Caribbean groups.Hoyles (2015), p. 138.

Biography

Family background and early years

First business ventures

Newspaper publishing

Book publishing

References

Further reading

External links