Below are all of my current publications. I’ve always got a couple in the pipeline so keep checking back. There are links to purchase the books if you would like to. Go to the bottom left of this page to read some excerpts from my books.
Fit & Funky Dance Show
Working with Community Vibe CIC in collaboration with Rosie Kay Dance Company. As assistant project co-ordinator, I am involved in working with service users and members of the public in devising a dance piece which addresses the stigma often surrounding mental health issues.
We will be performing this unique dance piece on July 23rd at The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome.
Funded by Legacy Trust UK, Arts Council England, Advantage West Midlands, this is a People Dancing project, part of West Midlands Culture Programme for London 2012
Unworkable, Theatre in Health Performance
Working with Community Vibe CIC, funded by the Arts Council, I will be writing and performing in this exciting new play; research consultations take place March 31st, contact me for further details, performances in September, venue tbc and October, World Mental Health Day at The Chamber of Commerce
1click2fame Internet Talent Show Competition
See Louise’s Family of the Grotesque as they seek their way to fame and fortune!
The following podcasts are available at Black Country Podcasting for download.
Click the quick links to listen...
Hear some of Louise's poetry including:
Epilogue, Inside Out, The Wrong Path, Dilemma, Feeling Better, Pictures and Celestine's Beans.
A feature on the theme of bullying with extracts from her book, Marooned, published by Kateshill Press.
Louise reads a short story, The Faery Dust Letters. A story about Lilac Rainbow.
Two poems by Louise; Epilogue and Bread.
The Order of Disorder….
Louise’s newest work, a trilogy published by Chipmunka Publishing due out in paperback soon, dates to be announced
www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/948079
www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/1222604
www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/689708
Marooned
A journey through bullying using poetry as the guide. marooned is the compelling story of one woman’s survival.
Cost: £3.00
ISBN: 978 1 904552 19 2
Tel: 07815 426 606
Email: louise@louiseland.co.uk
Click here to subscribe to the YouTube channel
As Company Secretary with Award winning Theatre and Arts In Health Company Community Vibe CIC, Louise’s roles also include writer, actor, project co-ordinator and sessional worker. The creative work with Community Vibe is varied and innovative, including theatre, dance and arts projects which aim to help change people’s lives for the better.
As a member of the National Federation of Spiritual Healers Louise is a practicing Spiritual Healer, and has completed her second Degree Reiki Healer training. She believes that Faeries, Angels and all of her Guardians have guided her through the dark tunnels of life and led her out into the Light of a better world.
The Forts of Kimmy Sue Anne
Kimmy Sue Anne, from the rough, tough streets of Dudley’s Kates Hill, overlooked as it is by the town’s ancient castle, waxes lyrical about her love of ancient military edifices.
Cost: £3.00
ISBN: 978 1 904552 22 2
COMEDY
In addition to her serious acting and writing, Louise is passionate about humour and comedy both as forms of entertainment and as powerful tools to keep us mentally, physically and spiritually healthy.
As a character comedian, she prefers to deliver her humour hidden behind tons of bizarre make up, costume and characterisation. She performs a whole family of larger than life, but unnervingly recognisable characters, including Kimmy Sue Ann, her street comedy poet who performs regularly (some would say constantly) in Birmingham and the Midlands, as well as making forays further out to London, Glastonbury, the Forest of Dean, Hereford, Derby, Liverpool, and the Edinburgh Fringe.
Other popular family members include Nicola Goff-the-Goth, Great Uncle Dirk o’t’dea, Nan Roz Coalstead, Aunt Pamela Mary Crabfish, , and little sister Lucietta Lollipop, with many others constantly threatening to cruel out of the wood work. (Or is it the wood worm?).
Manchester, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Hull, Leamington, Shropshire have all been treated to visits from various family members.
Her personal experience of being bullied to within an inch of her life by in her former existence as a nurse left her with loads of comedy material but no sense of humour whatsoever. Her subsequent vow to remain serious, pessimistic and depressed about the world and those within it for the rest of her life, came to a premature close when her sense of humour unexpectedly returned and she decided to turn tragedy into comedy and live off the proceeds.
THEATRE
The Many Faces of Louise Stokes
April 10th: Uncle Dirk Solo
Margaret Abri Rose Café Comedy Night, Digbeth.
April 11th: Kimmy Sue Anne
Much Wenlock Poetry Slam.
April 10th: Nicola Goff-The-Goth
Margaret Abri Rose Café Comedy Night Digbeth
April 21st: Nicola Goff-The-Goth
Funbags Impro Group
Rogue Play Giggles/Funbags Comedy Night, featuring Custard Factory
May 6th: Nicola Goff-The-Goth
Mirth Control Lichfield.
May 14th: Dirk n Kaur
Rtce Comedy Competition Heats, Hull.
July 29th
Red Lion, Hockley, comedy night.
August 7th: Funny Women Awards
London. Location tba.
April 24th/25th
The Three Witches and MacBeth at The Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Tread the Boards Theatre Company
April 27th
Semper Station performance night
The Station, Sutton
Nicola Goff (the goth)
Great Uncle Dirk o't'Dea
Kimmy Sue Anne
Louise Stokes Bio
Louise writes and performs all her own work as well running drama and creative workshops for both children and adults of all ages and backgrounds .
As a freelance artist, most of her work is issue-based and awareness raising, using both humour and serious social comment through the mediums of literature and drama to try and challenge perceptions which are discriminatory, prejudiced, ignorant, or just plain unhelpful.
Her previous background has given her the opportunity to use her drama and writing training and skills to work creatively with people experiencing mental health issues, as well as with a variety of other people from many different backgrounds.
Pamela Mary Crabfish
COMPETITIONS
Semi-finalist So You Think You’re Funny? 2008 Short-listed for Semi-finals, Nivea Funny Women Awards, 2008 Finalist Gong Show Heat, Fun House Comedy Club, Derby Amused Moose Contestant 2008Quarter Finalist Laughing Horse New Comedy Act 2009Regular weekly winner of variety category, twice quarter finalist 1click2fame talent showJongleurs FMH newcomer
Roz Coalstead (Nan)
DANCE
Faerie Dust
This a powerful novel of self discovery which explores the pressure to comply and the spirit of individuality, and culminates dramatically as the two clash and only one can prevail.
Cost: £8.00
ISBN: 978 1 904552 30 7
COMEDY CLUBS
Laughing CowsLaughing CalvesLaughing LassesLaughing HorseFunny WomenJourney CentralPear ShapedMirth on MondaysMirth ControlKitchen Garden CaféCheeky MonkeyHalf Moon ComedyThe Glee ClubJongluersFESTIVALS
Edinburgh FringeBirmingham Comedy FestivalLeicester Comedy FestivalBath Comedy FestivalArtsFestJuly 23rd Fit & Funky
The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome
For tickets or further details please contact Louise on 07815 426 606
Conversations with the Family of the Grotesque
Meet the whole family... Kimmy Sue Anne, Nan, Great Uncle Dirk, Nicola Goff, Pamela Mary Crabfish, Celestine, Arthur Striner Turner and Jean-Stefan de le Broadbean d’Urse au Mange Tout.
Cost: £3.00
ISBN: 978 1 904552 27 7
Aks Me
Faerie Joy
I have written and perfomed many plays with various groups, as well as my own one-woman plays. As with everything that I do the theatre work always has a key underlying message for health, education or community and aims to raise awareness of a variety of issues.
As well as working freelance I work with other theatre companies. You can see us in costume in the photos to the right.
by Louise Stokes The most important part of the Faerie Day Includes laughter, party, fun and play Dwelling on tears and dark dismay Is really not in the spirit of Fey Quick and nimble, bursts of Light Shining in the day, glowing in the night Elf or Gnome, Faerie or Sprite Life is one round of sheer delight If you glimpse them, hold this thought... You have been honoured by the sight you sought Since a Faerie sighting can never be bought Nor can a Faerie ever be caught But seeing them will set you free And freedom gives you the sight to see That you can be who you want to be I know this is true...it happened to me!
by Kimmy-Sue Anne I was watching a programme Bout Astrophysics I think it was interesting It was bout science and religion And power and politics And things Galileo…he was innit, innit I thought he played with Queen But apparently he lived long time ago ’Fore T.V, even, know what I mean? It brought up lots of questions That I really wanted to aks But I couldn’t think of any Perhaps there were too many But I enjoyed it anyway Cos I learned a new one of me words It’s fine and wicked and phat and sick… It’s BioNuclearConspiracyAstrophysic
Nine
Nine is a collection of nine short stories, each one looking at a different aspect of the human condition, from the depths of despair to the heights of ecstasy, from the very best to the very worst in human behavior.
Cost: £7.00
ISBN: 978-1-906357-35-1
Community Vibe is a one stop arts company catering for all needs, providing positive arts projects that can make an impact on social change and promote diversity.A main aim is inclusion into arts for those groups who can often be excluded for whatever reason; age, disability, social background, health etc. Community Vibe is run by Rachel Green. Check out the site for clips, blogs and lots of other stuff.
Both Reiki and the National Federation of Spiritual Healing(NFSH) are forms of Natural Healing. They are Natural therapies whereby healing energy is channelled by the healer through to the healee.
Everyone is made of energy and when that energy is unbalanced in some way, it can result in illness or stress. The healer, calling in the energy from its 'source' simply channels it through and each individual's own inner wisdom then ensures the energy is sent where it is most needed. Since the energy knows where it needs to go, the healer does not need to know what may be troubling a healee, although if it helps to talk, then the healer is there to listen.
I work as a volunteer for the NFSH at Rushall Community Centre, which is free of charge, but welcomes donations to help cover overheads..for details access or call Sandy Edwards on 01922 627346.
I also offer private healing sessions, either NFSH, or Reiki, and again, I do not charge for this service, instead I suggest that healees may like to give a donation to something or somewhere that is meaningful to them, only if they wish to of course!
Left: Image taken from Measure to Measure with Rogue Play Theatre Company. Visit their site at www.rogueplay.co.uk.
You See
by Kimmy Sue Anne What’s all the fuss bout food then? You is hungry, you does eat somat, innit? Why is you only supposed to eat stuff wot don’t taste nice, cos if it does then it must be rubbish…who thought that one up then, ya get me?
Feeling Better
by Louise Stokes If hadn’t been There Then I wouldn’t be Here And if I wasn’t Here Then Where would I be?
If you would like to contact Louise please use the details below or the form to the right.
Enquiry Form
Please use the following form to send Louise a message:
The Lilac Rainbow concept began in the Faerie Dust Letters, which have been transformed into a novel, Faerie Dust (see the bookshelf on the right of the page).
The Lilac Rainbow Faerie Oracle is a deck of faery oracle cards for divination that have been created from watercolour paintings that I have done over the last few years.
I am working on the project with Russell Goffe. Together we are ascertaining the meanings within the cards and writing readings and poetry to depict them.
As with 'Faerie Dust', the oracle cards deal with understanding the relationship between the psychological and spiritual sides of life, which can become confusing and cause much suffering.
We all deal with this side of our Self at some point and tools like symbolism can bring understanding and guidance.
Other Contacts
Please use the following form to send Louise a message:
Community Vibe:
Rachel Green: 07772 572 060
Kateshill Press:
Visit the Kateshill Press website for details.
The Faerie Dust Letters
Dear Stephen, I've written to Mum, as you suggested - after all, I've had enough time this week. I never would have imagined that a conference about dealing with "Bullying in the Workplace" could be so totally lacking in content about how to deal with bullying in the workplace. I think I may just give up my job altogether when I get back. You know how you're always saying I'm not entirely suited to a career in the health service? I'm beginning to think you may be right, so I might try and get a job in one of the caring professions instead. As you know, I've always had this strong belief, call it an intuition, ever since I was very young, that healing people was to be part of my purpose in life….after I'd decided that I didn't really want to become a princess, a show jumper, or a pop singer. Which you probably didn't know, because I don't think I've ever told you about that before. And you also won't know, because I never told you this either, that I did of course harbour a longer-held desire to be an actress. I'm sure that won't surprise you, though, you're always telling me that I'm over-dramatic about everything, and that I don't live in the real world…so I have the key qualities really, don't I? But then, of course I was told by Mrs Stanton that 'nice girls don't become actresses.' And I so wanted to be a nice girl, didn't I? A nice girl who brought some good to the world. Which is why I thought that working in the health service was a good idea, although I did enrol in a night school drama course for a brief while, guiltily attending whilst constantly keeping a lookout for anyone who might report my misdemeanour back to Mrs Stanton, even though I was no longer at school. Well anyone can make a mistake can't they…perhaps I need to search elsewhere for an outlet which will allow me to try and heal the world and the people who make it such a sad place on account of their own despair. Anyway, I'm doing that digression thing again that my Mother's always telling me - and you - about. So, like I say, I 've done what you asked and written to her, and, since I'm away for the rest of the week, I want to ask you to do something for me in return. I do appreciate how you took my side during that argument with Mum, especially since you don't really believe in any of my "stuff" as you call it.
Site design by Holistic Birmingham
Inside Out
by Louise Stokes Long ago, I was someone And now I’m someone new A re-invention of myself The old me, out of view Sometimes I think the someone Who used to be that me Is no longer in existence Has simply ceased to be
Innit
by Kimmy Sue Anne Innit is it innit that The conversation of the young When dey does chew de fat Innit is it innit that The adolescent words of choice To hang and have some chat
But then I’ll have a memory A flash of something past A smile, a phrase, a feeling That passes by too fast So I believe that person I grew up knowing well Has just gone into hiding To escape a personal hell And when the time is right again If that should ever be The someone I grew up with Will start looking back at me
Innit is it innit that Whatever, I aint bovvered, man Cos nutting ever never riles dem An’ sick is fine and good is fat Innit is it innit that A whole new language in our midst Know wha’ I mean, ya get me chap? So is it innit is it so That innit is it innit that Dote make no sense, tho’ does it tho’? Innit?
The wacky, insightful, transformational, humorous, yet sometimes dark, energy-driven, inspirational, light-filled world of Louise Stokes
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