She's the author of Beka Lamb, a seminal work of Belizean literature that's read in every school. But today the students of Central Christian School didn't have to read Edgell's work, they got to talk to her in person. Edgell is an associate professor of creative writing at Kent State University in Ohio but she's in the country for a brief visit and stopped in at the school on Freetown Road in Belize City. In honour of her visit, the children adapted the story of Beka Lamb for the stage. Here's how that went.
Zee Edgell, Author
"I loved it. I loved it, my gran would be horrified to see herself portrayed because she was a very prim and proper lady but she loved the book so she probably would say that doesn't look like her at all. Its an incredible feeling of joy, I feel very happy when I see that and I just look at them and pray that more books will come from this generation."
And to inspire them, today Edgell shared stories about her life and upbringing in colonial Belize.
[Zee Edgell To students: "We didn't have any indoor toilet facilities so you can all imagine."]
Zee Edgell,
"I hope that by sharing my life experiences, they could see that my life wasn't too much different from theirs."
And while she hopes that there are some future writer sin this class, this thrice published author hopes that more importantly there are readers.
Zee Edgell,
"We have a very strong will, we're very strong minded people, so if we decide that we want every child to reach standard six in good shape, where reading and writing is concerned, we can do it; we'll do it. It's not going to be easy but we have the resources to do it. In what else will we invest, it's the best investment for the country. In the 40s and 50s we had this big dream of the new Belize and this is it and unless we do that, our little experiment is going to be in big trouble."
Edgell's visit is tied to an in-school reading programme led by the Caribbean Centre of Excellence for Teacher Training, a model programme aimed at improving the standard of reading in primary schools.
