Zakia Sewell

Zakia Sewell is a writer, broadcaster and DJ from London. For the past eight years she has been producing and presenting radio documentaries and podcasts for platforms such as BBC Radio 3 and 4, Tate and Camden Arts Centre, on race, identity, music, mental health and culture, and was the recipient of the silver award for ‘Best New Voice’ at the Audio Production Awards in 2021.

Zakia has written articles for publications such as Tate Etc, Resident Advisor and Weird Walk, and recently contributed an essay to This Woman’s Work (White Rabbit Books, 2022), a collection of essays by and about women in music edited by Sinead Gleeson and Kim Gordon.

Alongside her documentary and writing work, Zakia is a big music fan and collector. She hosts BBC Radio 6 Music’s Dream Time and DJs regularly at clubs and festivals in London and abroad. She also regularly hosts workshops and panels and has worked on several creative research projects with arts institutions and heritage sites such as Chiswick House, The Black Cultural Archives, The Stuart Hall Library and the George Padmore Institute.

In 2020 Zakia developed, presented and co-produced a highly acclaimed four-part BBC Radio 4 series called ‘My Albion’ which explored ideas of Britishness, folk culture, Empire and identity. She is expanding on these themes in her first book Finding Albion, which will be published by Hodder.

Photo courtesy of Caspar Swindells