The literature of this Central American/ Caribbean nation.

Belize isn’t a country that gets much attention. Bordering the Caribbean to the east, Mexico to the north and Guatemala to the south and west, most people know little about this Central American country. This is a shame.

A couple of years ago I lived there for a short period of time. Based in the capital Belmopan, in the middle of the country, I got to know the locals, the way of life and the land relatively well.

It’s a very friendly place, people are laid back and have time for each other. It took me a while to realise I was being actively rude not greeting everyone I passed by on the street.

It’s a small place, the population is just under 400,000 spread out over just under 9,000 square miles – including a few more densely populated areas such as Belize City and Santa Elena/ San Ignacio; the result is there are vast tracks of green open nature, thick forest, stunning mountains and beautiful islands, beaches, rivers and sea. Well maybe guarded by the jaguars.

Of course having lived there for a while one of the things I wanted to know about was the literature. Although in the capital I did find trying to buy books a difficult and expensive task it didn’t mean that there isn’t a literary heritage to this land. Simply asking around I came across the same answer over and over again.

Beka Lamb. This is a novel held with pride by nearly every Belizean who I spoke to about the subject. Written by Zee Edgell and published in 1982, many see this book as Belize’s contribution to quality world literature. Scratch the surface and there is a whole lot more, but this was the one that I came across again and again.

This is the story of a fourteen year old girl who lives with her family in Belize City whilst it was still a British colony. Themes of politics tick away in the background as the adults all have their opinions and find ways of expressing them. Beka Lamb herself is more concerned about her friend Toycie and her school work. Although the title of the book is Beka Lamb, and we see the world through her eyes, as well as seeing how she herself develops she is also there to provide the insight into the adult issues and concerns that her neighbours and family are dealing with.

This is a gentle story, but it’s incredible looking back exactly how much happens in it. For those not familiar with the Belizean way of life it’s a great window into this culture and even though it is set in the 1950s and was written in the 1980s there is still a lot about the way this nation’s culture is depicted that is still alive and well today. I didn’t spend too much time in Belize City so although I could recognise the people, the geography was unfamiliar to me – but looking at Google maps, many of the locations are still there; Battlefield Park and Baron Bliss lighthouse for example.

What Beka recognized in herself as ‘change’ began as far as she could remember, the day she decided to stop lying. Things were getting almost beyond her control. She sat on the top step of the back porch that April Friday, seven months earlier, eating crayfish foot left over from tea and contemplating her latest, worst lie.
― Zee Edgell, Beka Lamb

I lived in the new garden city of Belmopan, built inland to replace Belize City as the capital so it was less at risk of hurricane damage, of which there is a history.

I’d spend the hot evenings and nights typing away at my own novel, Framed Of Rathgar, into the early hours of the morning accompanied by the neighbour’s two dogs, Sheba and Snuggles, waiting outside my window for attention with a glass of rum from the local supermarket (that’s I had the rum not the dogs). It was the writer’s dream! In hindsight I should have written a novel set in Belmopan rather than Dublin whilst I was there, but maybe I’ll get round to it one day.

There are many different ethnic groups of people who live together in Belize; Maya, Creole, Garifuna, Mestizo and Mennonites plus others. The Garifuna have a very strong culture that is especially active in places like Dangriga, Hopkins and Punta Gorda. They have their own language, customs and writers.

Zoila Ellis, herself Garifuna and born in Dangriga, is another writer who is championed; specifically her anthology of short stories, On Heroes, Lizards and Passion, is held in high regard. Set across the country and even in New York, these are seven viewpoints on life as a Belizean. The Teacher deals with a man who is trying to place his past in context, although the terrifying experience of losing all his books to a flood is what gave him my sympathies. There’s a lot of strong women trying to navigate their way through life… and a very bizarre story about lizards.

“I can assure you that unlike other women who may have come here before telling lies about their marital and financial status, I am above such things. My mother and sisters have, I must admit, done something wrong but must I be punished for that?”
― Zoila Ellis, On Heroes, Lizards and Passion

When the characters speak for the most part they use Belizean Kriol, whilst this is true of Beka Lamb it’s more the case here. When reading this, if you are not familiar with it, it can be a bit disconcerting at first, that is until you get the hang of it – if you can read English well you’ll soon pick it up and realise you can read a whole other language. When I lived there I got used to hearing people talk to each other informally in Kriol and it’s very easy to understand, although I never tried to speak it despite encouragement.

Examples: How me mek latta jonny cake and fry fish fi eat dis evening afterwards.

Both books open the door to a country whose many cultures we don’t come across too often and as such play an important part in the world literary scene.

Buy Beka Lamb by Zee Edgell
Buy On Heroes, Lizards and Passion by Zolia Ellis

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