[2] Begun as an offshoot of the journal of the Young Men's Progressive Club, BIM magazine first appeared in December 1942,[3] after which it continued regular publication (originally four times a year) until 1996.
[4] Many of the Caribbean writers who later received international recognition in the 1950s and '60s published work in BIM in its early years.
Notable contributors included Michael Anthony, Ian McDonald, Sam Selvon, and George Lamming,[5] and Monica Skeete.
"[5] After a decade of silence, BIM was relaunched in 2007,[8] now subtitled "Arts for the 21st Century", and published twice a year (in May and November) by the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill, Bridgetown, Barbados, in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister, Government of Barbados.
[10] In November 2016, at UWI, Cave Hill, a special Independence edition of the magazine was launched, featuring writers including Esther Phillips, George Lamming, Kamau Brathwaite, Austin Clarke, Anthony Kellman, Linda Deane, Sir Henry Fraser, Sir Hilary Beckles, Mark McWatt and Adrian Greene.