Carol Leeming Receives MBE In Queen’s New Year’s Honours List!

Carol Leeming, Leicester based multi-award winning artist, elected Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, has received a MBE in the Queens New Year Honours List for 2019. This is for Carol’s role and contribution to arts and culture in Leicester, as a poet and playwright. Carol says her creative writing ‘ actively seeks to give voice to the voiceless’

Carol is Leicester born of Windrush parents, originally from Jamaica and Antigua. Carol is a champion of Leicester arts creative community, working mentoring and developing many artists and creatives, particularly from the under represented BAME communities. Carol is a Cultural Leader for Black History in Leicester, also built her own arts career successfully firstly in music, and later as a published poet at literary festivals and playwright with productions e.g. at Curve and Brighton Dome theatres. Carol says ‘I am thrilled so very proud to receive this for myself, and on behalf of my Windrush family, my community and ancestors.‘

Carol was the winner of the East Midlands Womens’ Award for Arts Media & Music 2017, and received several awards for Poetry and Writing for Listeners, from the prestigious Leicester Writers Club. Carol has served on the Boards of Arts Council England East Midlands, and Demon FM Radio, De Montfort University. Carol’s other roles include Cultural Commentator, for BBC Radio Leicester, Cultural Exchanges at De Montfort University, writing articles for arts lifestyle magazines.

http://www.daretodiva.org

https://daretodiva2000.wordpress.com

http://www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk/writers-directory/carol-leeming-frsa/

https://serendipity-uk.com/black-history-month-leicester/lost-legends-2/

For further Info /contact

Mob 07960 035838/

Email iriediva@hotmail.com

Love the Life…

Maz a 24 year old dual heritage Queer window dresser, is a larger than life, troubled, vain, Helsinki-Bar Clubber.  During an alcohol & drug fueled night out in the St Georges quarter, he fatefully meets a rather strange eccentric man….this seemingly random but disturbing encounter, changes them both in unforeseen ways forever …

This magic realist tale, performed with live choral music will transport you back to 1980s Leicester, and to the First World War exploring Race, Class , Gender and Queer identity, History and our place within it.

Love the Life You Live, Live the Life You Love is the second  choreopoem in the Carol Leeming trilogy, was originally commissioned by the Centre for New Writing at the University of Leicester and is published in the Hidden Stories anthology. It was awarded the Siobhan Logan Award. We first meet the character Maz in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Diva (Curve, 2012)

Words, Music & Direction: Carol Leeming

Choreograhy: Kwesi Johnson

Musical Arrangement: Neil Hunter

Digital Backdrop: Gopi Degala

Producer:  Michaela Waldram-Jones

For further information: Michaela.waldram.jones@gmail.com / iriediva@hotmail.com

Join us at Curve for what will be a provocative evening of music, dance and theatrical entertainment. Love the Life… will be staged as part of a full evening of music, poetry and Diva songs performed by Carol Leeming and Guests.

Carol Leeming is currently supported by the Curve Artistic Development programme. LOVE THE LIFE YOU LIVE, LIVE THE LIFE YOU LOVE is currently in development funded by Arts Council England Grants for the Arts programme. The special performance on the 29th January will offer audiences an opportunity to see a fully staged preview of what will be developed into a 60 minute theatre piece which we plan to tour to small scale theatres in 2018/19. The evening will also offer an opportunity for audience feedback and will be the first stage on the journey of this brand new show. 

12 Angry Women, Brighton Dome

Carol was commissioned by Inroads Theatre company and Writing South, to write on the theme of women’s anger. A short play Vex was produced and showcased as part of a performance with 11 other women writers at Brighton Dome as part of the annual Brighton Arts Festival.

https://brightondome.org/event/8786/twelve_angry_women/

 

 

What the People Saw:
 A response to Joe Orton, Curve, March 2017

Carol Leeming was invited by Curve to write and perform a response to the themes of race, class, gender and sexuality in Joe Orton’s seminal work. A sequence of seven original poetry and songs were performed on the main stage. The work was well received by Curve Artistic Directors Nikolai Foster and Julia Thomas and the audience.

What the Butler Saw Leicester Artists Community Response to Joe Ortons’ controversial Play What the Butler Saw at Curve Theatre 11th March 2017

A Scholar & Statesman by Pamela Roberts, June 2017

Carol was commissioned to be a dramaturge, by Pamela Roberts a first time playwright to facilitate the writing of a script for a public rehearsed reading.

Carol was also commissioned to direct the play for 7 actors. A successful well-attended public rehearsed reading took place at Attenborough Centre Leicester. The play is being staged in London 2018.

https://daretodiva2000.wordpress.com/2017/06/22/a-scholar-a-statesman-staged-rehearsed-play- reading-a-dramaturge-directing-triumph-for-dare- to-diva/

Cosmocular Festival August 2017

The Cosmocular Festival is an annual festival in Leicester it attracts large crowds Carol was commissioned to write new suite of songs and music titled One Love Commands for her to perform with a 10 piece World Jazz Music Ensemble. The Cosmocular Ensemble later were invited to perform at Leicester TEdx Event at Curve.