Amirali Publishing House is named after the late Amiral Pyarali Merali, and exists to publish voices that matter — poetry, children’s literature, and essential writing that might otherwise go unheard.

Amirali was born in Mwanza, Tanganyka (now Tanzania) on the shores of Lake Victoria.  He was the child of Gujarati Indian immigrants.  He spent his youth between Mwanza and Nansio, a port town on the island of Ukerewe, Lake Victoria, where his father ran a store.  In his later childhood, he moved to Dar es Salaam in 1954, where he would later work, until emigrating to the UK in the 1960s.  In the UK he worked in the accounts department of Ward Lock publishers.  In the 1980s he moved to owning and running a newsagent’s shop in North London.  After semi-retirement, alongside his avid reading, he returned to book-keeping, and volunteered for charitable work involving human rights activism for causes in the UK and around the world.  Always modest, many of his contributions and achievements have remained anonymous.

Amirali had a forward vision about publishing for Muslim communities that few have matched.  His volunteering included advice on publishing that transformed the work of those he mentored.  At APH we hope to carry this forward in collaboration with the many poets, writers, artists and readers we call friends.  May Allah swt accept this work.  Ameen.