Ananda Kiamsha Madelyn Leeke's Page

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About Ananda and Her Novel Love's Troubadours - Karma: Book One

Ananda Kiamsha Madelyn Leeke is a citoyen du monde ... a citizen of the world. Her favorite places to visit are Cuba, London, Paris, Senegal, Turkey, China, Ghana, Egypt, Chicago, New Orleans, Richmond, San Francisco, Oakland, and New York City. She traveled to London in July 2007 and fell madly in love with the city. It was a lovely trip that allowed her to have a massively brilliant time!

Ananda is a registered yoga teacher, certified Reiki Master practitioner, artist, writer, creativity coach, radio host, and lfe entrepreneur. She owns and operates Kiamsha.com, LLC, a company that allows her to share her healing arts gifts. Currently, she works as an artist-in-residence for Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts at Howard University Hospital. As an artist-in-residence, Leeke engages patients and medical staff in creative expression, guiding them to tap inherent creative and cultural roots through breathing, relaxation, and reiki healing touch exercises; and a variety of mediums including visual arts, music, storytelling, and creative writing.

Since 1995, Leeke’s mixed media collages, wire sculptures, and paintings have been exhibited in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, North Carolina, and Kentucky. The Women’s Collective and Howard University Hospital own Leeke’s wire sculpture collections dedicated to communities of color living with HIV/AIDS. In 2001, her artwork was featured in Heart and Soul Magazine.

In 2007, Leeke's debut novel Love's Troubadours - Karma: Book One (www.lovestroubadours.com) was published by iUniverse, Inc. Her novel tells the story of Karma Francois, a thirtysomething Oakland-born BoHo BAP (Bohemian Black American Princess) with Louisiana and urban debutante flair. The novel begins with Karma's life in an uproar. Her relationships and the museum curator career that she struggled to form in New York City have crumbled, leaving no viable options to rebuild. Relocating to Washington, DC, Karma struggles with denial, depression, and debt. A lack of full-time employment opportunities forces her to craft a gypsy existence as a Jill of Many Trades: yoga teacher, art consultant, and freelance curator at Howard University Gallery of Art. Unable and unwilling to appreciate these jobs as gifts, she wallows in a pool of lost identity-and doesn't see a way to keep from drowning. When she looks in the mirror, Karma sees a woman whose choices have dishonored her true character. Now, for the first time in her life, Karma must learn to see herself for who she really is. Love's Troubadours - Karma: Book One is available on Amazon.com and at Howard University Bookstore.

In response to positive feedback from Love's Troubadours' readers and to honor women who share the life experiences of the main character in her novel, Leeke created BAP Living social networking site (http://baplivingforbapsandebw.ning.com) and BAP Living Radio (www.talkshoe.com/tc/18598). These Internet media projects celebrate and connect women of African descent who self-identify as Black American Princesses (BAPs) and Educated Black Women (EBW). They also offer BAPs and EBW an opportunity to build an online community that functions as sacred space where they can tell their stories, affirm each other, dream out loud, laugh, learn, and discuss issues of concern.

Leeke's poetry was featured in Beyond the Frontier: African American Poetry for the 21st Century edited by E. Ethelbert Miller. She also self-published several books of poetry and women’s creativity workbooks. In addition, Leeke facilitated expressive arts and self-care workshops for women of color living with HIV/AIDS; cancer patients, their caregivers, and health care providers; interfaith communities attending the Washington National Cathedral’s women’s spirituality conferences; children with unique learning styles; and lay ministers.

Leeke is a graduate of Morgan State University (B.A. in French, 1986), Howard University School of Law (J.D., 1989), and Georgetown University Law Center (LL.M. in Securities and Financial Regulation, 1991). Her memberships include the National League of American Pen Women, Yoga Alliance, Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington’s Business Volunteer Program, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., All Souls Unitarian Church, Insight Meditation Community of Washington’s People of Color Sangha and Refuge3 Sangha, and Results Gym. Leeke lives and plays in Washington, DC’s historic U Street neighborhood.