We are thrilled to announce that we will be bringing Zakia Sewell to Wendover on Thursday 25 June to discuss Finding Albion. In a hopeful quest for a new sense of national identity that unifies rather than divides, Zakia Sewell explores folk rituals, myths and traditions throughout the British isles, from Morris dancing to the Notting Hill Carnival
‘Finding Albion offers up much needed alternative national identities and stories for us to keep close and cherish. Its a timely book that helps us consider who we are and more importantly where we are going’ Jeremy Deller
Zakia Sewell is on a quest for another Britain. Traversing the length and breadth of our island from Somerset to Scotland, she’s seeking out a different story – one that lies beyond divisive national myths and symbols.
In Finding Albion, Zakia uncovers an alternative spirit of Britain that is vividly alive today. It is found in otherworldly folk songs, ancient legends, Celtic seasonal rites and mystic stone circles that punctuate our landscape. Her journey begins as the sun rises on the spring equinox over Glastonbury Tor, where she meets neopagans reclaiming traditions from our pre-Christian past. At summer’s peak at Notting Hill Carnival she hears cultural echoes that passed along the slave trade routes from the Caribbean. On All Hallow’s Eve she encounters the ghosts of Empire that are still haunting the nation, and in the depths of a Cornish winter she asks if today’s new folk revival could unite our increasingly divided country?
Finding Albion brings a hopeful story of Britain out from the shadows, giving us a deeper sense of who we are, and heralding the promise of a brighter future.
Zakia Sewell is a writer, DJ and broadcaster based in London. She hosts Dream Time on BBC Radio 6 Music, and used to host the flagship breakfast show on NTS Radio. 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. Her acclaimed four-part Radio 4 series My Albion was an inspiration for her book. Her writing has appeared in publications including Tate Etc., Resident Advisor and Weird
Walk as well as in the essay collection This Woman’s Work.
‘A fascinating and uplifting journey that feels urgently relevant. Finding Albion makes old traditions feel fresh and vital, tracing unexpected connections between past and present. This is a beautiful and important book’ James Fox, author of Craftland
‘A deft untaming of British culture, showing its radical roots and diverse present. It left me enlightened and profoundly hopeful’ Katherine May, author of Wintering
