Mel Kelly

M.A. Kelly is an author and activist living outside Windhoek, Namibia. Originally from Manchester, England, she worked as a wild-animal keeper at London Zoo before moving to Namibia in 1998. There, she established herself as an English-language editor of non-fiction materials focusing on conservation and health. Her fiction has appeared in numerous African publications including Doek! , The Kalahari Review , and Writers Space Africa . In 2022, Modjaji Books published her short-story collection A Bed on Bricks . Kelly has won multiple literary awards, including the Goethe-Institut Namibia Short Story Prize. She founded Sew Good Namibia, helping craftswomen generate income through upcycling fabric, and launched the Promising Pages Pilot Initiative to distribute books to under-resourced communities.