Interior of a cozy café with a round table holding a coffee with latte art, a slice of cake, a book, and utensils. Surrounding chairs include a green upholstered armchair and wooden chairs. In the background, a black bookshelf filled with books and a vintage radio with a plant are visible, illuminated by natural sunlight.

Our Mission

ZĒNE exists to bring people together through books, film, culture and conversation, championing diverse stories and creating spaces where genuine connection can grow.

We want reading to feel social, accessible and exciting: something that introduces people not only to new stories but to new people and experiences too.

01
Connection

02
Discovery

03
Belonging

Meet The Team

Close-up of a young woman with long dark wavy hair, smiling and looking upwards, wearing a necklace with a pendant and a black top.

Angelicah

Co-founder

I’ve been a reader for as long as I can remember, but I’m also quite shy, and as I got older I realised how hard it can be to actually make new friends and find your people in London. Especially without having to go to some awkward networking event and pretend you love networking.

That was a big reason behind ZĒNE. I wanted to create something where you could turn up on your own, have something easy to talk about straight away, and hopefully leave having met someone you actually want to see again.

Outside of books, I’m into fashion, film, interiors, art, travelling and generally finding a new thing to become obsessed with every few weeks.

Also, yes, I absolutely judge books by their covers.

Usually reading: fiction
Weakness: buying books faster than I can read them
Most likely to: have an unnecessarily strong opinion about something very unserious

Black and white portrait of a woman with short platinum blonde hair, wearing earrings, resting her face on her hand and gazing thoughtfully to the side. 
Co-founder

Kristen

I studied English Literature at uni, so books have always been a big part of my life. Like a lot of people though, adulthood got busy and reading slowly became one of those things I loved but somehow wasn’t doing nearly enough of. ZĒNE has been a really nice excuse to find my way back to it.

I’m definitely the more extroverted one between the two of us. I genuinely find people interesting and can pretty much talk to anyone about anything — which probably explains why I love the social side of ZĒNE so much.

Outside of books, I’m usually crocheting, journalling, watching a film, listening to music, looking at art or finding something that makes me laugh. I love comedy and will happily send something funny to everyone I know because obviously they need to see it too.

Weakness: sending “one last Reel”
Most likely to: end up in a full conversation with someone she met five minutes ago
Always in the mood for: a good film and an even better soundtrack

Turn Pages With Us

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