Afrori Books to leave Brighton premises on back of huge hike in monthly fees

Black authors specialist Afrori Books is leaving its premises in Brighton because of a massive rise in monthly fees. 

Currently based in a building owned by the arts charity Lighthouse in the North Laine area of the city, the bookshop faces its fees quadrupling from 1st April, Afrori owner Carolynn Bain said in a video posted on Twitter on Tuesday (17th January).

Speaking to The Bookseller, Bain said: “To be honest, we could have coped. Our initial plan was to do a small crowdfunder to give us a little boost and then host events in the evenings. We contacted the landlord, and they said, ‘If you want to use the space in the evenings, you’re going to have to pay a higher fee.” 

She continued: “It’s not sustainable, it’s not tenable. I wracked my brain over Christmas but eventually had to say there’s no way around this—other than sacking my staff member—so we have to leave.”

Afrori Books opened its bricks-and-mortar space in 2021. Since then, it has become a hub for the community, hosting events with authors including the Jhalak Prize-shortlisted Katy Massy and Max Lobe, who won the Ahmadou Kourouma Prize in 2017. 

Bain said: “We’ve worked with the local cinema to host film screenings of ’The Woman King’ and ’Wakanda Forever’, we run a hair education programme in the shop where we teach foster carers and parents how to take care of Afro hair. The list goes on and on.” 

Most recently, Afrori partnered with the Peckham-based arts charity Resolve to curate a photography exhibition at Brighton University. “We displayed pictures of everyday black women next to their stories, whatever story they wanted to tell about themselves,” said Bain. “We had a real mishmash of people, from Dorothy Koomson, who’s a local Brighton woman, to a psychoanalyst, a stay-at-home mum, local activists and a 72-year-old nurse who came over as part of the Windrush generation. It really was a privilege.”  

Afrori has been using the space in North Laine for 18 months after Lighthouse initially invited it to use the space free of charge. Late last year, however, Lighthouse received news that Arts Council England would be withdrawing support from March 2023 onwards.  

In a statement released on social media, Lighthouse said: “At the end of [Afrori’s] 12 months in October 2022, we agreed to another six months rent-free, until the end of March 2023. With energy costs escalating however, we mutually agreed that the bookshop would cover the service charge costs in their space for heating, cleaning and other utilities.

“At the end of that same month, Lighthouse received the news that our core funder was withdrawing their support from the end of March 2023. The demand for core funding in the art scene is exceptionally high and like many other not-for-profit arts organisations we must now look for other sources of revenue to sustain our charitable work.

“Since November 2022 we’ve had to make several changes within the premises to generate income to help offset the loss of this funding, including the Lighthouse team moving out of our own office. Unfortunately, offering space rent-free to other businesses is no longer financially feasible. This regrettable change in position was communicated to Afrori Books in December to give them three and a half months’ notice under the current agreement while they find a new home.

“These represent significant changes for Lighthouseand we are very sorry that there have been knock-on effects for others also. The decisions we have made have not been taken lightly. 

“Lighthouse is proud and honoured to have had Afrori Books based at Lighthouse for 18 months and to have played a part in their transition from an online business to a popular physical shop and community hub. Carolynn and her team are incredible and Afrori Books is a much-needed addition to the city. We will continue to support them as they find a suitable space and move forward to bigger and better things.” 

Bain has had several offers of help since posting her video on Twitter, including two local businesses who have offered to share their spaces with the shop and a charity which has offered use of an industrial unit. She plans to launch a crowdfunder to help with the cost of relocating in the coming days and says the bookshop is in the “embryonic” stages of becoming a co-operative. Bain added: “We hadn’t anticipated this coming, so we’re just trying to be as open as possible.”