Afua Hirsch
Afua Hirsch

Meet Afua

Afua Hirsch is a British writer, broadcaster, and best-selling author who explores race, identity, and injustice through impactful writing and documentaries. Today, she continues to share powerful narratives and advocate for human rights.

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Decolonising My Body

A Radical Exploration of Rituals & Beauty

From The Sundays Times bestselling author of Brit(ish)

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Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging

Where are you really from?

You’re British. Your parents are British. You were raised in Britain. Your partner, your children and most of your friends are British. So why do people keep asking you where you are from?

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News & Features

Rihanna for British Vogue

Podcast ‘Legacy’ at top of the charts

Enslaved with Samuel L Jackson

Award-winning Short Film “Flowers”

The Pandemic Year

Jameela Jamil in conversation with Afua Hirsch

African Renaissance: When Art Meets Power

Gurls Talk with Adwoa Aboah

Take Your Knee Off My Neck

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As featured in

Brit(ish): Afua Hirsch on race and identify in Britain today

Upcoming Events

29
Oct
2025

Cundill History Prize 2025

Afua serves as a jury member for the prestigious Cundill History Prize 2025, alongside chair Ada Ferrer and fellow jurors Sunil Amrith, François Furstenberg, and Francesca Trivellato. The US$75,000 Cundill History Prize is the world’s leading award for history writing, recognising books that demonstrate excellence in craft, communication and consequence. Afua and the 2025 jury […]

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08
Nov
2025

Thinking Aloud, Thinking Together: Afua Hirsch at the Dublin Book Festival 2025

Afua will be speaking at Dublin Book Festival in the conversation “Thinking Aloud, Thinking Together” with Dr Phil Mullen on Saturday 8th November at 11:45am. This compelling discussion explores what it means to be Black in Ireland and Britain today, challenging and unravelling the harmful legacy of erasure of the Black community in the history […]

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14
Nov
2025

Kerry James Marshall: Conversations

Afua will be speaking at the Kerry James Marshall: Conversations symposium at the Royal Academy of Arts. This two-day dialogue explores the themes, influences and histories that shape Kerry James Marshall’s groundbreaking practice, marking the RA’s exhibition ‘Kerry James Marshall: The Histories’. The symposium brings together internationally renowned artists, academics, art historians, and curators to […]

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Follow @afuahirsch on Instagram
During a Black History Month talk to a group of high achieving young people the other day, I commented that my greatest achievement, I think, is breaking my addiction to achievement My subscribers asked me to write more Turns out a lot of us struggle with this Like everything, it’s a problem exacerbated by the pressures of race, gender, class and migration So here it is. Hope it helps 💫 Link in bio x
Is it true that… beauty standards have always been the same? Sahen schöne Menschen immer gleich aus… Stimmt es, dass? Est-il vrai que les canons de beauté restent éternels ? Decolonising in all the coloniser languages 😅 Thanks for the film @arte.tv Link in bio 🔗 #DecolonisingMyBody #beauty #power #books #knowyourhistory
International law is inherently performative It is also the system we’ve got To understand whether it’s meaningful that more and more nations, including Britain or recognising Palestinian statehood, you only have to look at Netanyahu’s reaction He is raging. Sorry to be a basic bitch, but when a war criminal is mad, the rest of us can feel it’s probably a good thing I also wrote some more scholarly thoughts on the meaning of statehood recognition on my Substack. You can read it at the link in bio! 🇵🇸⚖️🌍
“As I grew up, I knew that the language I was writing - a writer’s language - it was not inside me, it was outside me. It was like this striped and spotted thing that I, a predator, needed to hunt down, and I needed to drink its inky blood.” Arundhati Roy on writjng On activism On feminism On protecting herself On architecture, colonial British tv execs, on rape, on Gaza, on Hindu nationalism, on the Booker, and most of all On being Mary Roy’s daughter If you haven’t yet read her new book Mother Mary Comes To Me, then I envy you - you have so much to look forward to Meanwhile the young me is in her childhood bedroom in total shock and delight that the older me is in conversation with one of her favourite authors of all time 💫 For all the beautiful detail see link in bio @intelligencesquared Photos thanks to @sunniyaahmadpirzada
Why “DIY patriotism” is a giant red flag… Link in bio ✍🏽
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie I have read everything, and seen enough to know that this woman is always real but never predictable, and the way she writes breaks my heart and leaves me changed Link in bio for all my twelve takeaways from a dream conversation with the author of Dream Count #books #authors #novels #bookfestival So grateful for this conversation 💫 Thank you beautiful Edinburgh And special shoutout to black Scotland 🤩 Photos @amzqc @dr_isi_o

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You can buy Decolonising My Body online at the following retailers

Available in hardback, paperback, eBook (including Kindle)
and audiobook

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