Ian Randle

Ian Randle is an independent Jamaican publisher with the main focus on English language readers.

Leben

Randle was born in Hanover on Jamaica in 1940. After his academic study he worked many years for British publishers until he started his own publishing firm, named Ian Randle Publishers (IRP). This start made his firm the first English language publishing firm in the Caribean. Later, his firm became a model for particularly the African book scene.

At first he focused on scientific books, which enabled local scientists to publish their findings locally. As a result the region became less dependent of writers from the United Kingdom, the former colonizer of Jamaica until 1962.

His catalogue generally contains more than 300 titles. Next to scientific themes, he now also publishes schoolbooks and books on popular themes. The direction of his firm is meanwhile in hands of his daughter Christine; he himself continued on fields like marketing, public relations and consultancy.

Since 2000 he publishes volumes in French, Spanish, English and Creole language with CAPNET (Caribbean Publishers Network) that he specially founded for this reason. Via CAPNET maintains contact with large book fairs.

Recognition

In 2012 Randle was honored with a Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands for his contribution to the Caribbean intellectual property. Earlier that year, the Caribean magazine TALLAWAH put him on the list of most influential Jamaicans.

External links

• Official website

Sources

• Prins Claus Fund (June 2012) Report from the 2012 Prince Claus Awards Committee
• Ellington, Barbara (October 10, 2005) The Monday Interview: Ian Randle - 'Booking' date with destiny, Jamaica Gleaner
• Campbell, Howard (September 18, 2011) Small company doing big things..., Jamaica Gleaner
• Jamaica Television (October 3, 2010) Jamaica Selected for Prince Clause Award

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