Letter: African profits

AS THE founder of Heinemann's African Writers series, I was delighted to see Jenny Uglow's excellent article on its 30th birthday ('A voice out of Africa', Review, 3 January). I take issue with her on one point, though: we have never 'reaped cash' from the series. It was made viable only by the best-selling titles by Chinua Achebe and Ngugi wa' Thiong'o which appeared in the first few years of the series. These still account for over 40 per cent of the annual turnover, and they make possible the publication of the non-profitable parts of a list of over 300 titles.

Incidentally, my name is mis- spelt throughout (as Hills instead of Hill), which is surprising given that the writer uses my own published work as a prime source.

Alan Hill

London NW11