Writing

Jeda Pearl (she/her) is a Scottish Jamaican writer and artist based in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2022, she was shortlisted for the Sky Arts RSL Award and longlisted for the Women Poets’ Prize. Art installations include Windrush Legacy Creative Reflections (2023), Caledonian Biotech Library, 3033 (Scottish Storytelling Centre, 2022) and Acts of Observation (Collective, 2021). Performances include StAnza, Hidden Door, Push the Boat Out, Cymera and Edinburgh International Book Festival. Her poems and short stories are published by New Writing Scotland, Open Book, Not Going Back to Normal, Shoreline of Infinity, Aesthetica, Tapsalteerie, and her debut poetry collection, Time Cleaves Itself, is forthcoming from Peepal Tree Press. @JedaPearl jedapearl.com.

Debut Poetry Collection


Awards

Selected Works

For upcoming readings, events and activities go to the Events page.


Short fiction


Poetry

  • Time Cleaves Itself, Jeda Pearl’s debut poetry collection
    My debut poetry collection, Time Cleaves Itself, will be published by Peepal Tree Press in July 2024!
  • Sleekit: Contemporary poems in the Burns stanza
    An anthology of contemporary poems in the Standard Habbie form (aka Burns stanza), edited by Lou Selfridge and published by Tapsalteerie.
  • How Do We Talk About Knives
    A new poetry anthology featuring contemporary writers in Scotland on names, language and identity; edited by Samina Chaudhry, Marcas Mac an Tuairneir and Rebecca Sharp.
  • PASSIONS – responses to Maud Sulter’s archive
    PASSIONS is publication published by Rhubaba bringing together contributions from nine Black artists, curators and makers responding to Maud Sulter’s archive.
  • ‘I was born’ – in two anthologies
    ‘I was born‘ is part of the 2020 Mixtape: Writers of Colour Audio Anthology, curated by Hannah Lavery and published by the Scottish BPOC Writers Network. It was also shortlisted for the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award.
  • Acts of Observation exhibition
    A poetic audio installation, pamphlet and an online captioned film of a series of five linked poems that weave themes involving the disabled BPOC body with archeoastronomy and the sublime, commissioned by Collective gallery.
  • BBC Scotland Big Scottish Book Club
    In October 2021, I had the honour of sharing a poem with Damian Barr’s Big Scottish Book Club. I read ‘inheritance reverb‘ which is one of three poems, written as a response to Maud Sulter‘s body of work, commissioned by Rhubaba, forthcoming 2022.
  • 15 Ways of Looking at a Tuareg Pendant – New Writing Scotland
    My poem, ’15 Ways of Looking at a Tuareg Pendant’, after Raman Mundair’s ’15 Ways of Looking at a Silk Sari’ is published in The Last Good Year: New Writing Scotland 38.
  • Chronic Fail
    ‘Chronic Fail‘ is a poem I wrote during 2020 as a response to experiencing the pandemic as a disabled person. It is part of Not Going Back to Normal – A Disabled Artists Manifesto: a digital collection of 49 artworks and texts responding to a call for ideas for a radically accessible arts world, curated by Sasha Saben Callaghan and Harry Josephine Giles
  • Poems in Shoreline of Infinity 18
    I’m thrilled to have five poems published in Shoreline of Infinity 18! Shoreline of Infinity is a sci-fi magazine and indie publisher based in Scotland.
  • Two poems in Ceremony
    I have two poems in Ceremony is the first anthology from the Scottish BPOC Writers Network, formerly the Scottish BAME Writers Network. Curated and edited by award-winning poet, Alycia Pirmohamed.
  • Published in Multiverse – a new science fiction poetry anthology
    I’m thrilled to announce that I have two poems, The Thaw and Tempest to be published in Multiverse – New International Science Fiction Poetry published by Shoreline of Infinity, co-edited by Russell Jones and Rachel Plummer.

Readings and recordings


Want to collaborate?

Jeda has experience as an arts programmer, event chair and panellist, and workshop facilitator. She has sat on art project selection panels and may be available for consultations.

Collaborate with Jeda

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