Born into a Haitian family, Leilani grew up in New York and spent much of her childhood living between the US and Haiti. Having resided in the UK since 2003, she has a deep sense of the triple consciousness of being a Black, Caribbean, and American woman, and this contributes to her genuine understanding of diverse cultures and lifestyles. She writes poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction, integrating her academic and professional experience to create literary works and cultural programming that elevates underrepresented communities.
Currently an MLitt student and Alexander Dixon Scholar at the University of Glasgow’s Creative Writing programme, her pieces give insight on Afro-Caribbean culture. She previously studied for a master’s degree in international relations, with a focus on peace building in divided societies in Africa and trained in project management as part of her bachelor’s degree in commerce. She has 10 years of experience working in the field of Management Consulting and International Development. She also holds a postgraduate diploma in Early Childhood Education, worked as a teacher for 12 years, and as a translator and language tutor in Haitian Kreyol throughout her life.
Her publications include, Fiction: Brown Girl, 2023 and FAO: Kukuye (in progress); Poetry: The Book of Sonnets (in progress), Atlantis: Poems from the Atlantic Grave (2025), Everyone’s a Sunday’s Child commissioned by Nourish Scotland Campaign (2025); Short Stories: Derailed (2025), La Boule 12 (2025); Essays: Drowning Birds (2025), Chronicles of a Refugee (in progress); Plays: Blood Wedding (2025), Unharmed (in progress); Film Poems: MY HAIR TONGUE (2024) and ANCESTRAL MEMORY WORK (2024), AN NOU KITE SA (in progress).
She is drawn to research and creative programming on:
- the art of migration communities,
- regeneration of Afro-Caribbean archives,
- narrative voice in Diasporic literature and theatre, and
- ekphrastic literature in conversation with Christina Sharpe’s, In the Wake: On Blackness and Being (2016)