Hamza Jahanzeb is a queer writer, producer, and book publishing professional. As an arts and culture journalist, they are a leading voice in art and culture criticism, as Hamza writes on numerous topics including: West End and Broadway, television, film, and contemporary music. His work has been quoted in outlets such as The New York Times, PinkNews and The Guardian. He also produces events, most recently for the British Library and Jaipur Literature Festival, where he brought leading West End musical theatre performers from shows such as Hamilton and Les Miserables.
A dedicated advocate for inclusivity, he works as an Authenticity reader in his spare time and had also written a piece for Society of Authors in their magazine about his work. In 2020, he was recognized as one of The Bookseller’s Rising Stars, an award spotlighting future leader in the publishing industry. He lives in London.
In 2020, he was selected as one of The Bookseller’s Rising Stars – book trade professionals who are tipped as future leaders of the trade. The year previous, after reading one of Shobna Gulati’s (dinnerladies, Doctor Who, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) blog posts for Alzheimer’s Research UK, he brought forth an idea to a publisher to have her publish a memoir of her career, titled ‘Remember Me?‘.
A former UK Trade Sales Director at Hachette UK had to say the following: “Hamza worked across our online platforms, reviewing and improving on page content, keywords and SEO and made a significant impact on the business, optimising online book sales. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him.”
Prior to beginning his career in UK publishing Hamza completed a BA (Hons) at University of Kent in Canterbury (with a year abroad in Prague, Czechia). He then received a scholarship to study Mandarin in Beijing. During this time, he sourced and successfully applied to intern at Penguin Books’s N. Asia office.
Alongside publishing endeavours, Hamza takes great interest in politics, the Arts and current affairs; aged 18, he was selected to to sit on the inaugural Youth Select Committee. The committee presented their findings to Ministers the House of Commons and published their findings in the form of a report which can be read in UK Parliament.
Hamza is a staunch advocate for inclusivity. Born and raised in Lancashire, and as a Muslim, he knows just how exclusive the Arts can be to aspirant publishing professionals and creative industry specialists; and that is why he continually seeks to alleviate barriers that currently exist, in order to inspire a new generation of publishers. A passionate campaigner for the #BookJobTransparency initiative, it wouldn’t be wrong to suggest Hamza’s campaigning has had a profound impact across the industry by changing the landscape, ensuring a level playing field is deployed and structural inequalities are tackled head on, and with results for his clients.
For emails, please send your queries* to: hamza@hamzajahanzeb.co.uk
www.twitter.com/hamzajahanzeb