About Jessica Wilson

It all started when…

Trained at UCL and Cambridge University, Jessica Wilson is a writer, author and publisher of Jamaican and British descent.

She was shortlisted for Penguin Random House’s ‘WriteNowLive’, an initiative to launch writers from underrepresented backgrounds and is a GoFundMe Award winner and runner-up for the 2018 Aesthetica Creative Writing Award. 

Amongst many others, Jessica has worked with:

·      Tate Britain (for ‘Life Between Islands’, an exhibition celebrating Caribbean-British art from the 1950s to the present day)

·      Macmillan Publishers (panellist for Black History Month event)

·      The BookTrust Represents (an arm of the UK's largest children's reading charity)

·      Tate Britain

·      The London Fire Brigade Union (for Black History Month alongside Alex Wheatle MBE)

·      the Race Council

·      the School Library Association

·      the Library and Information Service (CILIP)

Jessica founded of British-Jamaican independent publishing company, Tallawah Publishing and is represented in response to the need for diversity in the publishing industry.  The company is committed to telling the best unheard stories of the Caribbean and Caribbean diaspora whilst amplifying voices at the interstices.  Tallawah Publishing likewise seeks to offer support to writers of African and Caribbean descent.

Jessica is represented by literary agents Bell Lomax Moreton.  She has a two book contract with MacMillan (2024).

She is committed to

·      adding to the pluralism of literature

·      celebrating a different version of beauty which has not been given enough esteem in the mainstream

·      raising awareness of African and Caribbean history and the histories of those of the diaspora

·      spreading a message of love, unity and revelling in what makes each of us unique

·       bringing joy, upliftment and momentary escapism to readers

Jessica is likewise highly attuned to her ancestral duty as a writer of Caribbean descent to reimagine and record the region’s suppressed history.  She is also determined to showcase underrepresented characters and narratives. 

Jessica also works with adult writers, schools and teachers to encourage diversity in literature and emphasise British history is global, not a singular monologue.

For further information, please visit www.jessica-wilson.com