Bridging Time is part of the North Bridge Refurbishment Arts Legacy and Community Benefits Programme and ‘If this bridge could talk: past, present, future’ .
Creative writing workshops open to people working on the North Bridge renovations and people who reside or work nearby.
Welcome to Bridging Time!
Creative writing workshops to explore your experience of the North Bridge, imagine the past and into the future. Plus create at least one piece of writing with support from a local author and get paid to have it published in a book!
Both groups are now full – thank you for your interest.
What? 3 x Free writing workshops (90 minutes each) + get paid £80 for published work.
Who? Adults 16yrs+ Edinburgh residents inspired by the North Bridge, or who work or live nearby. More info below.
When & where? 27th November – 16th December:
- Afternoon sessions:
- 3:15pm – 4:45pm
- Wednesdays 27th Nov, 4th Dec, 11th Dec (all in-person)
- @ The Crannie, 9 Cranston Street, Edinburgh EH8 8BE
- OR
- Evening sessions:
- 6pm – 7:30pm
- Wed 27th Nov, Wed 11th Dec, Mon 16th Dec (all in-person)
- @ Southside Community Centre, 117 Nicolson Street, EH8 9ER
Cost? FREE!
Access: Limited childcare or carer bursaries £30 per session. Both venues are wheelchair accessible. Masks encouraged. Will aim to provide online access if requested. Please add your access requirements to the Sign-Up form.
Both groups are now full – join the waiting list.
There are lots of ways to find a writing community online or in person, for example:
- Open mic nights
- Scottish Black & PoC Writers Network
- Scottish Book Trust lists writers groups & opportunities
- Edinburgh SFF Writers
Share this opportunity! Share posts on Instagram, Facebook, BlueSky, X/Twitter, LinkedIn.
Download the poster image or PDF.
Curious but not sure it’s for you?
Everyone can tap into creativity! Its fun and good for your wellbeing.
Complete beginners are very welcome. Even if you have no experience in writing, think creative writing isn’t for you, disliked English in high school, prefer audio books and podcasts, but are curious or interested, please join us!
All formats of writing (text, audio/voice, or sign language), and all forms, for example prose, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, memoir, script… all welcome.😊
Workshops are taught in English, but writing can include Scots, Gaelic, or any of your own languages. You don’t have to read anything out if you don’t want to, and we dinna worry ower ‘correct’ spellings!
Themes will explore available historical archives (visual, recorded, text-based) to investigate links with colonial histories; your experience of working on the refurbishment, or living or working nearby the North Bridge; items and histories uncovered during the refurbishment; alongside fantastical and science fictional methods to facilitate and create new works.
Workshops
Each workshop will have resources (audio, visual and/or text-based) and guided writing exercises. Materials and light refreshments provided.
1. Passing Place
“What North Bridge means to me” (personal experiences, memories)
Bridge as metaphor:
- Bridge as journey (in between place, transition, way through, crossing)
- Bridge as connector (communicator, physical links, meeting place, understanding)
- Bridges symbolise passages: of time, or place, of ideas
2. North Bridge – Where We Travelled
- Historical colonial links
- What North Bridge’s past means to me (as an individual)
- What I want our society to know about North Bridge’s past
3. (North) Bridge to the Future
- North Bridge 2525 – imagining the North Bridge in 500 years time (people, modes of transport, meaning of place)
- Revisiting previous exercises and choosing pieces to work on
Project aims
- Two groups of up to 12 people participate in the workshop series, preferably coming to all 3 sessions.
- Participants are people working on the North Bridge renovations and people who reside or work nearby. If workshops are oversubscribed, priority places will be given to people who are under-represented in Scottish literature or marginalised by society, for example: working class people; people with experience of poverty, homelessness, or racism; disabled people; Black people, people of colour; members of the LGBTQ+ community.
- At least 15 participants contribute one piece of writing to be published in a printed book and to read their work on/under the North Bridge. Jeda will provide (gentle!) editorial support as needed.
- All contributors paid for their published work: £80 to £100 per person.
- All participants receive 2 copies of the printed booklet. Additional copies distributed to Edinburgh libraries, schools and community centres.
- This project is part of the North Bridge Refurbishment Arts Legacy and Community Benefits Programme.
- Hopefully also a captioned and BSL-translated video recording of contributors reading their work (reading ‘performance’ support provided).
Safer Spaces
- Whatever our roles or seniority in work or life, the writing workshop is a space where everyone is treated equally and all contributions are treated with equal respect.
- You do not have to read out your writing – you can share a reflection on the exercise instead.
- Feedback is given through positive comments: what you like about someone’s piece of writing and why.
- Some of us experience different kinds of oppression and violence at the same time. We commit to not reproduce: ableism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, misgendering, misogyny, racism including anti-Blackness, anti-Semitism, colourism, Islamophobia; xenophobia. Verbal or physical abuse, or hate speech will not be tolerated.
About Jeda Pearl
I’m a Scottish Jamaican writer and poet. My debut poetry collection, Time Cleaves Itself, came out this year and my poetry and short stories have been published in various anthologies and exhibitions. I write science-fiction and fantasy as well as realism… My work often traverses/reflects the ‘in between’ and themes of belonging, memory, grief, secrecy and resilience, and examines the histories, cultures, folklores and languages of my ancestral islands.
I was born-and-raised in Edinburgh – there’s some more personal info about me on the Sign-Up form.
Your data
- Your data provided will be kept by Jeda Pearl Creative until December 2025, then deleted.
- Your name, email address, postal address may be shared with Edinburgh Council for the purpose of communicating about the project and sending out the book. You can opt out.
- You can be published anonymously or under a pseudonym.
- Sensitive data, such as racial/ethnic origin, class, political opinions, religious beliefs, gender, physical or mental health, disability, or sexual life, will be anonymised and may be shared privately with funders or in future funding applications. For example “50% of participants were working class”. You can opt out.
- Read Jeda’s Privacy Policy.
Questions?
Email Jeda: jedapearllewis@gmail.com
