THE LIMBO CIRCUS & other stories

274pp., paperback, Modjaji Books, Cape Town, 2026

ISBN: 9781991240514

In this collection of short stories set across southern Africa, ordinary lives intersect with extraordinary circumstances, weaving together tales of survival, betrayal, and transformation.

“Humorous, pensive, and tender, the stories in The Limbo Circus are richly varied and enthralling. Through M.A Kelly’s affectionate eye and exacting prose, each story invites us to bear witness to the lives of others, in all of their contradictions and idiosyncrasies.” David Mann, author of Once Removed 

“Kelly takes a cool but interested look at identity and our sense of who we are. And, related to that, is love and how we recognise and manifest it, how the blessing of sudden insight can change life decisions and plans.” Jane Rosenthal, News24

M.A. Kelly is originally from Manchester, England. She worked at London Zoo as a senior keeper and then in veterinary nursing before going on to study film theory. An English-language editor and writer since arriving in Windhoek in 1998, she also manages a small-scale women’s upcycling project, ‘Sew Good Namibia’. Her fiction has appeared on the Kalahari Review website and she has contributed regular opinion pieces to The Namibian newspaper.