Jeda Pearl ~ Writer, Poet, Artist, Story Navigator
Pronunciation
My first name is pronounced ‘jeh-dah’ and was created from the first two letters of my parents’ names: Je– and Da–.
It’s not pronounced jay-dah, jada, or jedi 😉
My second name is pronounced ‘perl’ or ‘perrrl’ if you roll your r’s (also made by oysters ⚪🦪🐚)
Mini bio / Intro – 30 words
Jeda Pearl is a disabled Scottish Jamaican writer and poet, published/commissioned by Black Lives Matter Mural Trail, New Writing Scotland, Shoreline of Infinity, Rhubaba, Collective, StAnza and Peepal Tree Press.
Short bio – 75 words
Jeda Pearl is a Scottish Jamaican writer and artist. Poetry performances include StAnza, Push the Boat Out, and Edinburgh International Book Festival. She was longlisted for the Women Poets’ Prize 2022 and awarded Cove Park’s 2019 Emerging Writer Residency (fiction). She has works published/commissioned by Black Lives Matter Mural Trail, Not Going Back to Normal – Disabled Artists Manifesto, Shoreline of Infinity, Scottish Storytelling Centre, galleries Rhubaba and Collective, and Peepal Tree Press. @JedaPearl jedapearl.com
Full bio – 240 words
Jeda Pearl is a Scottish Jamaican writer and artist. Her work often traverses/reflects the ‘in between’ and explores the intersections of belonging, disability, secrecy and survival. At times, she examines the histories, cultures and folklores of her ancestral islands, creates magical realist or science-fictional worlds, journeying through time, thought and inner/outer space.
Commissioned works include Commissioned works include Caledonian Library, 3033 (Scottish Storytelling Centre), Acts of Observation (poetic audio installation and captioned film weaving the disabled BPOC body with archeoastronomy and the sublime, Collective), An Ocean of Patience (dance-film-poem, British Council Momentum), inheritance reverb (poetic response to Maud Sulter’s archive, Rhubaba).
Jeda was longlisted for the Women Poets’ Prize 2022, and in 2019, she was awarded Cove Park’s Scottish Emerging Writer Residency and shortlisted for the Moniack Mhor Bridge Awards. She’s performed on The Big Scottish Book Club (BBC Scotland), at StAnza, Push the Boat Out, Event Horizon, Inky Fingers, and Hidden Door and her poems and short stories are published by Black Lives Matter Mural Trail, New Writing Scotland, Open Book, Not Going Back to Normal – a Disabled Artists Manifesto, TSS Publishing, Tapsalteerie, Shoreline of Infinity, Aesthetica, and Peepal Tree Press (forthcoming).
She is also Co-Director of the Scottish BPOC Writers Network, an advocacy and professional development organisation for Black and POC writers in Scotland. She has experience as an event chair, panellist and arts programmer, and has sat on selection panels for arts organisations.
Find Jeda online @jedapearl on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.