Dr Alastair Niven OBE, 1944-2025

^{HMC Honorary Fellow Dr Alastair Niven}

It is with great sadness that Harris Manchester College learned of the death of Honorary Fellow Dr Alastair Niven earlier this year. 

Born in Edinburgh, Dr Niven’s long and distinguished career encompassed a wide range of roles, including Director General of the Africa Centre and Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in London. He also served as Director of Literature at the Arts Council of Great Britain, at Arts Council England, and at the British Council, receiving the OBE in 2001. 

Later, he took up the position of Editor of The Journal of Commonwealth Literature before going on to join the Advisory Committee for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and become a judge for the Booker Prize. His own writing included two published books on the work of D H Lawrence. 

He is credited by many with opening the doors of the British literary establishment to African, Asian and Caribbean writers, playing a key role in the careers of – among others – Ben Okri, Bernardine Evaristo, and Chinua Achebe. 

Dr Niven’s last visit to the College was one that he particularly enjoyed: a poetry evening which saw two other HMC Fellows, Michael Symmons Roberts and Mary Jean Chan, give readings of their work.  

The College sends its condolences to Dr Niven’s family. 

Read a longer obituary of Alastair Niven on the Guardian website.