Karen McLeod is a published author and established writer and performer. She holds an MA in Creative & Life Writing from Goldsmiths University, after being awarded the Isaac Arthur Green Scholarship. Her current novel-in-progress HOLDING PATTERNS was long-listed for The Pat Kavanagh Award at Goldsmiths University for outstanding literature.
Her debut novel In Search of the Missing Eyelash was published by Jonathan Cape, won the Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Best First Novel Award. Since then she has been widely published in milieus of fiction and non-fiction. Recently Jon Mcgregor commissioned her to write for The Letters Page and her letter to Alan Bennett was included in volume one of the first anthology box set.
Employed as Writer-in-Residence at the Bookseller Crow on the Hill she is also the shop’s Literary Events Co-ordinator. Over the last eight years, she has developed a series of popular Creative Writing courses and workshops which she runs at the bookshop and also tours nationwide.
Karen writes and performs comedy as the character Barbara Brownskirt and was supported by Arts Council England in 2017/18 for a nationwide sell-out full-length show 'Who Do You Think You Are? Barbara Brownskirt.' This culminated in a successful Edinburgh Festival Fringe run at the Assembly Rooms. She regularly tours UK festivals, art, cabaret and theatre venues with LGBTQ+ Literary salon POLARI, the performance art co-operative DUCKIE as well as partnering with organisations such as Liverpool Pride, Homotopia, Manchester Pride and artists, Scottee, Mothers Ruin and Tom Marshman.
Lately she has been a visiting lecturer in creative writing at UCAS (University for the Creative Arts).
Visit the Shows page to see Karen ... or Barbara live. You can also book Barbara to appear at you very own event via the Contact page.
