Jendella Benson is an accomplished writer, editor and creative with an impressive body of work spanning multiple forms.
Her abiding passion for storytelling and eclectic life experiences have provided a foundation for her exploration of themes related to race, gender, and personal identity.
Writer & Editor
In 2022 her debut novel Hope & Glory was published in the UK and the US and received critical acclaim and enthusiastic reviews from readers, and her highly-anticipated second novel, All That We’ve Got, publishes in July 2024. Her short story, Kindling, was published in The Book of Birmingham. She was a judge for the 2023 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing and is a member of the advisory board for the award-winning, Brixton-based bookshop, Round Table Books.
Jendella is the Head of Editorial for Black Ballad, the award-winning digital platform for Black British women. In her role, she has commissioned and edited hundreds of black women and non-binary journalists and writers from across the globe and worked with brands such as Dove, Comic Relief and Google.
Jendella started her writing career as a columnist for Media Diversified, MTV UK, and Christian Today and has since written for The Guardian, The Sunday Times STYLE Magazine, The Telegraph and The Independent.
Public Speaker
Jendella is an experienced and engaging public speaker who is known for her warm delivery and chairing insightful and in-depth conversations with authors, actors, scientists and academics that encourage the audience to think critically about the world around them.
As well as delivering a memorable TEDx talk on reclaiming the stories that define us, she has lead creative writing workshops for teenagers and adults, guest-lectured at universities and been a keynote speaker at conferences.
Comfortable in front of audiences of all sizes or appearing remotely, Jendella has appeared at literary festivals in the UK and abroad, and been invited onto BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour.
Creative
Jendella has a background in photography and the visual arts with a BA in Graphic Design and Photography. In 2017 she completed and self-published a documentary photography project, Young Motherhood, which was covered in the Guardian, BuzzFeed, The Voice Newspaper, on London Live and in publications across Europe, Africa, America, and South America.
Her visual work has been exhibited around the UK and internationally, most notably at the House of Commons, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, and at the International Center of Photography in New York as part of ICP Projected in May 2018.
