Leshie Lovesong, recently resident in Cincinnati, Ohio, (USA) is a Motswana poet, singer and song writer. Her stage journey began in 2007 as a member of ExodusLivePoetry!, a pioneering poetry movement in Botswana.
Her first studio recorded EP, Sunflowers and Strawberries was launched and released at the Queen City Poetry Slam in Cincinnati, Ohio where Leshie was a feature artist. The release of S&S follows Leshie’s second solo event, BREATHE: A Night of Poetry and Music, which was staged in Gaborone, Botswana in August 2014. BREATHE is the second part of a 3 part “Love Letters”, written, directed, produced and performed by Leshie, accompanied by other artists. The first part, FALLING: A Night of Poetry and Music, was staged in Gaborone, at Moving Space Theatre, Maru-A-Pula School on March 7th 2014. The show sold out, and got extensive media coverage. The last installment is expected to be staged in 2015. The trilogy follows a lover, on her journey towards finding herself, exploring the luminal spaces, very rarely confronted, including the impact of past experiences, and how they shape one. Leshie has also performed adaptations of the trilogy in the Maitisong Festival 2014 and 2015, held in Gaborone.
In 2013, Leshie performed at the INTWASA KoBulawayo Festival in September, and at the Maun International Poetry Festival in October. Her EP, released recently, was recorded in 2013, by Heaven Sent Productions.
2012 saw Leshie co-write a workshopped poetry play, “The Bedspread”, which was launched in Gaborone, and later performed at the annual “Sex Actually” festival in Johannesburg, South Africa. As a social and environmental activist, Leshie travelled to Luanda, Angola and Rundu, Namibia in mid 2012, workshopping scripts and performing plays aimed raising awareness on the importance of the sustainable development of the Okavango River. As a poet, Leshie’s poetry was inevitably featured in the plays.
Between 2012 and 2013, Leshie acted in various other theatre productions, including pantomimes of Pinocchio and Beauty and the Beast, in both of which she played lead roles; and Passion Plays I and II, where she explored even more challenging and provocative roles which explored the range of her capacity as an artist, and taught her discipline.
Her work has been featured in ‘Dreaming is a Gift for Me’, an audio anthology, produced by SAUTI Artist Administration; as well as in ‘Awakening’, a compilation of affirmations.
Leshie’s written work has been featured in the Womb edition of Prairie Schooner.