Early years and education Jeffrey Boakye grew up in
Brixton in south London, United Kingdom. He is of Ghanaian heritage, his parents having migrated from
Ghana to the UK in the 1970s. He attended
Corpus Christi Primary School in Brixton before attending
Salesian College, Battersea, then
Wimbledon College. He studied English Literature at the
University of Leicester, graduating in 2003.
Teaching A teacher of English to 11- to 18-year-olds since 2007, he was appointed a Senior Teaching Fellow in Manchester Institute of Education (MIE),
University of Manchester, in 2022.
Writing Boakye has written articles and comment pieces for publications including
The Guardian,
The Financial Times and the
Royal Society of Arts Journal, and is the author of several books for adults as well as young readers. His most recent adult book is
I Heard What You Said (2022), about which Joseph Harker of
The Guardian said: "This book is essential reading for teachers, those who run educational institutions, parents – but perhaps most of all for those Black children who may be currently going through school not realising why they are made to feel small, out of step and unworthy. For them in particular, it could be a ray of hope."
Broadcasting In 2021, Boakye made a pilot for a new BBC Radio 4 music programme called
Add to Playlist, with
Cerys Matthews. This emerged as a weekly Friday-night show, which Boakye continues to co-present and direct.
Add to Playlist went on to win both the
Prix Italia and
Prix Europa in the music radio category in 2022. ==Personal life==