
From stone circles to hallowed trees, our landscape is rich with the spirit of 'Albion' - a mystical, folkloric Britain that connects our past with our present. This alternative Britain can be found at sacred sites and in ancient myth, but with Paganism on the rise and a new folk revival blossoming, it's also vividly alive in modern customs and communities.
In Finding Albion, we join Zakia Sewell on a quest the length and breadth of the island, set to the beat of the pagan calendar.
Searching for a sense of identity that lies beyond the toxic symbols of empire, Zakia begins her journey as the sun rises over Glastonbury Tor on the spring equinox. Along the way she finds friction between the old and the new in Beltane celebrations and Morris dancing, and in our connection to the land beneath our feet from Scotland to Cornwall. At Notting Hill Carnival she hears cultural echoes that passed along the slave trade routes, and at Samhain she encounters the ghosts of our past still haunting the nation.

I contributed an essay about my mother's singing voice, mental health and my Caribbean ancestry to a forthcoming collection of essays entitled,This Woman’s Work: Essays on Music, ed. by Kim Gordon and Sinéad Gleeson. Featuring contributions from Anne Enright, Fatima Bhutto, Jenn Pelly, Rachel Kushner, Juliana Huxtable, Leslie Jamison, Liz Pelly, Maggie Nelson, Margo Jefferson, Megan Jasper, Ottessa Moshfegh, Simone White and Yiyun Li
"Published to challenge the historic narrative of music and music writing being written by men, for men, This Woman’s Work seeks to confront the male dominance and sexism that have been hard-coded in the canons of music, literature, and film and has forced women to fight pigeon-holing or being side-lined by carving out their own space."
(Apr 2022)
An article exploring the themes of my BBC Radio 4 series, 'My Albion', for the fourth edition of Weird Walk - a zine for folkies and stone circle fanatics. Grab a copy while you can!
A written feature about the incredible deep house producer, Jenifa Mayanja, exploring her journey in music for Resident Advisor.
Press:
https://www.toa.st/blogs/magazine/zakia-sewell
https://elephant.art/zakia-sewell-can-albion-ever-truly-belong-to-someone-like-me-26042021/
https://theroute.co/Zakia-Sewell
https://freeword.org/voices-of-the-motherland-conversation/
https://djmag.com/longreads/12-emerging-artists-you-need-hear-march
https://brainchildfestival.co.uk/blog/zakia-dj-nts-radio-questing/
https://ovalspace.co.uk/blog/2018/7/questing-forth-with-zakia-sewell
https://www.stampthewax.com/2017/10/11/diggers-directory-zakia/




