East African Publishing House

The East African Publishing House (EAPH) was a publishing company established in Nairobi in 1965. It was the first indigenous publishing firm in East Africa.[1]

History

The East African Institute of Social and Cultural Affairs started to consider the possibility of starting a new publishing firm in 1964.[2] They approached André Deutsch, who had previously published Tom Mboya's Freedom and After and been involved in a publishers called African Universities Press.[3] Deutsch and the Institute cofounded East African Publishing House in 1965. Initially, Deutsch owned 49 percent of the company, but editorial disagreement over the kind of books to publish led to his withdrawal in 1966. The Institute bought Deutsch's shares, making EAPH the first publishing firm to be wholly owned and managed in East Africa.[4]

From 1968 to around 1970 it published the literary journal Busara.[5]

For several years John Nottingham was Publishing Director at EAPB, [6] helping General China write his two books on Mau Mau and publishing Song of Lawino by Okot p'Bitek. Nottingham later founded his own publishing company, Transafrica Publishers.[7]

Phoenix Publishers, founded by Gacheche Waruingi, grew out of EAPH's eventual collapse. Phoenix Publishers opened in 1988 with a reissue of EAPH primary school readers, and adopted authors previously published by EAPH.[8]

References
  1. Ruth L. Makotsi; Lily Nyariki (1997). Publishing and Book Trade in Kenya. East African Publishers. p. 26. ISBN 978-9966-46-664-8.
  2. UNESCO, Cultural industries: a challenge for the future, UNESCO, 1982, p.177.
  3. 'Interview with John Nottingham', in Glen Bailey, ed., Papers in International Studies: Africa series, 1980, pp.111-2
  4. International Association of School Librarianship, 13th Annual Conference Proceedings, 1984, p.353.
  5. Mwangi, Douglas M. (2015). Publishing outposts on the Kenyan literary landscape: a critique of Busara, Mũtiiri and Kwani? (Thesis). University of Nairobi. pp. 4–5. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  6. John Nottingham, 'Establishing an African publishing industry: a study in decolonization', African Affairs, Vol. 68, No. 271 (April 1969), pp.139-44.
  7. John Kamau, John Nottingham: Briton who sought justice for Mau Mau fighters, Daily Nation, 24 February 2018.
  8. Evan Mwangi (2007). "Publishing". In Simon Gikandi; Evan Mwangi (eds.). The Columbia Guide to East African Literature in English Since 1945. Columbia University Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-231-12520-8.
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