Pearl Eintou Springer, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, is the recipient of a national award, the Humming Bird Silver Medal, for her contribution to the development and propagation of Arts and Culture.
She is the director of the National Heritage Library, which she has worked tirelessly to transform into a Centre of learning, cultural and literary expression and empowerment for all who use its facilities.
A founding member of the National Drama Association, she has won a number of awards for her work on the stage.
She has published three books of poetry and stories for children and recently published an anthology of her poetry entitled ‘Moving Into the Light' (Ian Randle - Publisher). Her poetry has been described by Funso Aiyejina, winner of the Commonwealth Best First Book Prize (Africa) as ‘a multi-vocal, self-critical, self-reassuring, dramatic rendering of the complex consciousness and journey(s) of the New World (African) woman. Audiences throughout the world have been inspired by her unique brand of poetry, and she holds the distinct honour of being the first national of Trinidad and Tobago to perform her poetry at the prestigious Edinburgh Festival.
Her career as an activist or /artist has been a lifetime of service, to the dispossessed youth of the inner cities, to young artists, dramatists and performers and basically to any bright spark with the gleam of the future in the eyes. One of her plays 'Shades of I-She', focuses on the societal plague domestic violence and offers women an alternative to traditional coping mechanisms. The play has been performed under the patronage of the Ministry of Gender Affairs throughout Trinidad, with the support of the Dutch Embassy in Tobago, and under the auspices of UNIFEM, throughout the Caribbean. Its universal message and hard-hitting dramatic style has had such a fundamental impact on audiences in the region that there have been requests for it to be performed in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
She is a member of the Administrative Arm of the Council of Orisa Elders of Trinidad and Tobago. As a devotee of the traditional African Orisa religion, Ms. Springer has pioneered original thought and research on the history and importance of the belief system to society; and, working with a team of committed researchers, priests and believers, she has successfully lobbied the T&T government to make the necessary changes to laws which actively encourage the repression of the religion and the sense of self of the African community. She has spoken on the topic of African religion at several regional and international fora.
She is the Cultural Chair of the Executive of the Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad and Tobago an organisation which has pioneered and inspired Emancipation celebrations throughout the diaspora, notably in Ghana and Jamaica.
She has performed as a Storyteller throughout the United Kingdom and the Caribbean and in the United States. She has hosted Storytelling workshops at Association of Caribbean Universities, Research and Institutional Libraries (ACURIL) and for the Library Services in Trinidad and Tobago. She was a participant at the First Regional Storytelling Festival in Barbados.
Her most recent story which tells of the cultural history of Trinidad and Tobago and represented Trinidad and Tobago at the region's Carifesta VII in St. Kitts/Nevis (Festival of Caribbean Arts & Culture) has been described by Marcia Riley, Acting Secretary General, National Commission for the United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organization (UNESCO) - 15a Wainwright Street, St. Clair, Port of Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. -
"This is the story of the region. It should be performed everywhere, so that through song, poetry; dance and music, we shall have a confrontation with our history which, while expressing our terrible reality, celebrates, our ability to survive".
The work which is being submitted, was performed at the recently concluded CARIFESTA, was lauded by a variety of regional luminaries such as Alwyn Bully, Henk Tjon (Surinam). Her work has won the acclaim of writers such as Edward Kamau Braithwaite, Georg Three of her stories have been expanded by her into plays and successfully staged. Her story' Nansi, Nansi Anansi' was the Trinidad entry at a festival African Arts and Culture, held in the United Kingdom Koyojo.