Dinesh Allirajah obituary

My good friend and colleague Dinesh Allirajah, who has died aged 47 following complications from surgery, was a believer in the liberating and educative power of the arts. He was chair of the National Association for Literature Development (1995-97) and Catalyst Dance and Drama (1999-2001); a founding board member in 2005 of Literature Northwest; chair of the trustees of the National Black Arts Alliance from 2002; and director of Comma Press publishers from 2012.

During the 1990s, he worked as a literacy and creative writing teacher, running workshops in community centres, schools and prisons, and latterly lecturing and tutoring at Liverpool John Moores University and the universities of Central Lancashire and Edge Hill, Liverpool. He was also a writer in residence at Liverpool Hope University.