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Zakia Sewell in conversation with Colin Grant

In front of an excited audience at After Hours in Bristol, Colin Grant talks to the writer and DJ Zakia Sewell about Finding Albion. Sewell’s debut nonfiction book digs deep beneath the surface of British culture to unearth the hidden stories about the country’s foundation. Sewell looks at myths and fables but also at how former colonies such as those in the Caribbean are shaping a new identity for Britain.

In Conversation

WritersMosaic Magazine | InSight
Zakia Sewell: 'I was in Wales over the weekend, and you see the Welsh flag everywhere. And it elicits a very different response in me to the St George's Cross, which is ostensibly my flag.'

In conversation with Colin Grant

Ryan Calais Cameron: '"I never wanted to get to the point where I was in my acting, where you could put me in a box. If that was the point, what's the point of having all the creativity in the world and you can only talk about one aspect of life?"'

In conversation with Delon Jessop

Rianna Simons: 'I think there are two things going on in the play that I try to do. One of them is the characters trying to do something as opposed to doing nothing, and then there's the whole thing of being seen to do something.'

In conversation with Luca Newman

Matthew Xia: 'My job as a director is all about big picture. Literally to sit at the back of the auditorium and ensure that the story is being told, and then lots of other people will worry about the details.'

In conversation with Trish Cooke

Dr Allen Zimbler: 'I'm here to learn and to observe and to just have the privileged of seeing a people who are somewhat different from us in so many ways.'

In conversation with Vayu Naidu

Yvonne Singh: 'One talk that [Samuel Jules Celestine Edwards] gave in Portsmouth, the room filled so much with people that the floor gave way, and 60 people fell into the cellar beneath.'

In conversation with John Siddique

Zakia Sewell: 'I was in Wales over the weekend, and you see the Welsh flag everywhere. And it elicits a very different response in me to the St George's Cross, which is ostensibly my flag.'

In conversation with Colin Grant

Ryan Calais Cameron: '"I never wanted to get to the point where I was in my acting, where you could put me in a box. If that was the point, what's the point of having all the creativity in the world and you can only talk about one aspect of life?"'

In conversation with Delon Jessop

Rianna Simons: 'I think there are two things going on in the play that I try to do. One of them is the characters trying to do something as opposed to doing nothing, and then there's the whole thing of being seen to do something.'

In conversation with Luca Newman

Matthew Xia: 'My job as a director is all about big picture. Literally to sit at the back of the auditorium and ensure that the story is being told, and then lots of other people will worry about the details.'

In conversation with Trish Cooke

Dr Allen Zimbler: 'I'm here to learn and to observe and to just have the privileged of seeing a people who are somewhat different from us in so many ways.'

In conversation with Vayu Naidu

Yvonne Singh: 'One talk that [Samuel Jules Celestine Edwards] gave in Portsmouth, the room filled so much with people that the floor gave way, and 60 people fell into the cellar beneath.'

In conversation with John Siddique

Zakia Sewell: 'I was in Wales over the weekend, and you see the Welsh flag everywhere. And it elicits a very different response in me to the St George's Cross, which is ostensibly my flag.'

In conversation with Colin Grant

Ryan Calais Cameron: '"I never wanted to get to the point where I was in my acting, where you could put me in a box. If that was the point, what's the point of having all the creativity in the world and you can only talk about one aspect of life?"'

In conversation with Delon Jessop

Rianna Simons: 'I think there are two things going on in the play that I try to do. One of them is the characters trying to do something as opposed to doing nothing, and then there's the whole thing of being seen to do something.'

In conversation with Luca Newman

Matthew Xia: 'My job as a director is all about big picture. Literally to sit at the back of the auditorium and ensure that the story is being told, and then lots of other people will worry about the details.'

In conversation with Trish Cooke

Dr Allen Zimbler: 'I'm here to learn and to observe and to just have the privileged of seeing a people who are somewhat different from us in so many ways.'

In conversation with Vayu Naidu

Yvonne Singh: 'One talk that [Samuel Jules Celestine Edwards] gave in Portsmouth, the room filled so much with people that the floor gave way, and 60 people fell into the cellar beneath.'

In conversation with John Siddique

My Hit List

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One person's reading, watching, listening and visiting

Kuba Shand-Baptiste’s cultural highlights

The author and journalist on the affirming read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, the brilliance of live music from Soweto Kinch and the London Symphony Orchestra, Patricia J. Williams' book Giving a Damn: Racism, Romance and Gone with the Wind, the profound album Sexistential by Robyn and Tarell Alvin McCraney's play Choir Boy.

Magnus McDowall’s cultural highlights
Jarred McGinnis’ cultural highlights
Ella Sinclair’s cultural highlights
Lily-Ann Cunningham’s cultural highlights
WritersMosaic Original Series

And the winner is...

A glimpse into the creative process and the poetic thinking behind T. S. Eliot Prize-nominated collections. Seven poets – all either shortlisted for, or winners of, the T. S. Eliot Prize – explore the concepts behind their books, reflect on how particular poems came into being and share behind-the-scenes insights that illuminate their work in a rich and dynamic conversation around the art and craft of contemporary poetry.

Edited by Nick Makoha

Listen nowSpotify  |  Apple  |  YouTube

After the applause: life, work, and poetry beyond the T. S. Eliot Prize

by Nick Makoha

A Portable Paradise, shared

by Roger Robinson

Hoard / Archive

by Sarah Howe

Life after the T. S. Eliot Prize

by Joelle Taylor

Change of heart

by Hannah Lowe

Poets en masse

by Ella Frears

A sort of homecoming

by James Conor Patterson
Featured episode

Life after the T. S. Eliot Prize

Reflections on the value of books and the purpose of prizes in a politicised world.

Listen now

Poetry films

Four UK based poets read their work and pieces that have been inspirational. Commissioned by the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation, in collaboration with WritersMosaic.

See all films

Poetry films

Four UK based poets read their work and pieces that have been inspirational. Commissioned by the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation, in collaboration with WritersMosaic.

See all films

Anthony Anaxagorou reads his poem, ‘Things Already Lost’.

3 mins

Marjorie Lotfi reads her poem, ‘The Hebridean Crab Apple’.

3 mins

Anthony Anaxagorou reads his poem, ‘Things Already Lost’.

3 mins

Marjorie Lotfi reads her poem, ‘The Hebridean Crab Apple’.

3 mins

Jo Clement reads her poem, ‘Playing Cards’.

3 mins

Jason Allen-Paisant reads his poem, ‘Right Now I’m Standing’.

3 mins

Jo Clement reads her poem, ‘Playing Cards’.

3 mins

Jason Allen-Paisant reads his poem, ‘Right Now I’m Standing’.

3 mins
WritersMosaic Original Series

Fiction Prescriptions

Great novels offer insights into the human condition but can they also be tools for living? Co-hosts Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy provide bibliotherapy in our new podcast series. Each month listeners can write in with their dilemmas and our dynamic duo will suggest remedies for the head and heart, drawn from novels, poetry and prose collections.

Listen nowSpotify  |  Apple  |  YouTube

New Year’s resolutions

by Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy

Love

by Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy

The state of the world

by Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy

Parenting

by Ella Berthoud and Isabelle Dupuy
Featured episode

The state of the world

Ella and Isabelle reflect on, and provide prescriptions for, the state of the world. How can fiction help us to understand what we are living through, how to handle it and continue to fight for values, for a world we want to live in?

Listen now

Reviews

WritersMosaic Magazine | Reviews

Small Prophets

A veritable love letter to British whimsy

Nou Ra

Deep Azure

A tragic exploration of grief and police brutality by the late Chadwick Boseman

Delon Jessop

Delaine Le Bas: Un-Fair-Ground

'This is not a polite, contained exhibition; this is somewhere to live, to explore, to be challenged.'

Louise Mulvey

Baldwin: A Love Story

A portrait of a tender soul through the prism of his romantic relationships

Colin Grant

The Comfort of Distant Stars

A dazzlingly original debut novel from Nigerian writer I.O. Echeruo

Suzanne Harrington

Act Normal

A refreshingly free and frank approach to memoir

Okechukwu Nzelu

The Beginning Comes After the End

A tool of resistance reminding us of what has already happened

Chitra Ramaswamy

Fundamentally

Filthy, shocking and fearlessly confrontational

Ella Berthoud

“Wuthering Heights”

Emerald Fennell's adaptation is visually captivating and provocative, but does it match Brontë’s jagged meditation on race, class and generational trauma?

Danielle Papamichael

Close Up

WritersMosaic Magazine | CloseUp

When journalism is silenced

What is the responsibility of the writer?

Juliet Gilkes Romero

Literally the shittiest night!

What really matters, even in literally the shittiest times

Isis Davis

‘AI’m not gagging’

On AI and the future of the novel

Taíno Mendez

On seeing Iran in the news, I want to say

A poet reflects on what it's like to be of Iranian descent and to witness terrible news coming out of Iran.

Marjorie Lotfi

Sad Song of Plantain poem

'I lie as quiet as death in this ‘three for two pounds’ cardboard box'

Roger Robinson

Regarding Turner

What does knowing of the revered British artist's investment in chattel slavery mean for his legacy?

Franklin Nelson

Building Literary Resistance

Personal reflections as a white, non-Muslim, middle-class editor for the journal Critical Muslim

Naomi Foyle

Watching a theatre go dark

What we lost with the Blue Elephant Theatre

Amanda Vilanova

Waste not, want not

The cultural politics of waste

Michael McMillan

Events

Featured event

Iranian Women’s Voices at the British Library

WritersMosaic recently presented an evening of poetry, film and music at the British Library in London to showcase Iranian Women's Voices, inspired by the poet and filmmaker Forough Farrokhzad.

WritersMosaic Live
Join us on tour in 2026

Find out more about the literary festivals we’re visiting this year

InSight

WritersMosaic Magazine | InSight
video

Free Will

Will Harris reads his poem, 'Free Will'. Directed by Matthew Thompson and commissioned by the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation.

video

Half Written Love Letter

Selina Nwulu reads her poem, 'Half Written Love Letter'. Directed by Matthew Thompson and commissioned by the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation.

Podcasts

WritersMosaic Magazine | Podcasts

Podcasts

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Original series from WritersMosaic

Illuminating, in-depth conversations between writers.

Listen to all episodes
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
Amazon Music
YouTube
Other apps
What we leave we carry, The series that tells the true-life stories of migration to the UK.

The series that tells the true-life stories of migration to the UK.

Listen to all episodes
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
Amazon Music
YouTube
Other apps
Fiction Prescriptions

Bibliotherapy for the head and the heart

Listen to all episodes
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
YouTube
And the winner is...

Seven poets celebrated by the T. S. Eliot Prize explore the concepts behind their books.

Listen to all episodes
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
YouTube
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