15 Facts About Zee Edgell

Zelma Inez Edgell MBE, better known as Zee Edgell, was a Belizean-born American writer who published four novels.

Zee Edgell retired as a full, tenured professor of English at Kent State University.

Zee Edgell worked as a journalist, first working for The Daily Gleaner in Jamaica in 1959, and later serving as the founding editor of The Reporter.

Zee Edgell has lived for extended periods in such diverse places as Jamaica, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Somalia, working with development organizations and the Peace Corps.

Zee Edgell has been director of women's affairs for the government of Belize, lecturer at the former University College of Belize and she was an associate professor in the department of English at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio from 1993 to 2009, where she taught creative writing and literature.

Zee Edgell toured internationally, giving book readings and delivering papers on the history and literature of Belize.

Zee Edgell was married to American educator Alvin George "Al" Zee Edgell, who had a decades-long career in international development.

Zee Edgell contributed extensively to the Belizean Writers Series, published by local publishing house Cubola Productions.

Zee Edgell edited and contributed stories to the fifth book in the series, Memories, Dreams and Nightmares: A Short Story Anthology of Belizean women writers, published in 2004.

In 2020, Zee Edgell died at her home in St Louis, Missouri, at the age of 80.

Zee Edgell was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours list for services to literature and to the community.

The Festival of San Joaquin, her third novel, told the story of a woman accused of murdering her husband, and in her short stories, Zee Edgell skillfully explores the layers of Belize's complicated social and racial stratification through the lens of her female protagonists.

Zee Edgell said she would eventually like to write about male protagonists as well as her extensive travels across the world.

Zee Edgell even finds herself in the position of owning her own family members.

Zee Edgell marked the release of this book in Belize with appearances at the University of Belize, Belmopan, and in Belize City.