Pengereng: A Book by Ivory Kelly

Ivory Kelly

Belizean author Ivory Kelly launched her brand new book today at the Image Factory in Belize City. The book is a collection of short stories, which includes one of the stories translated in Creole. Kelly’s book called ‘Pengereng’ is inspired by stories in Belize. The author shares more about her publication.

Ivory Kelly, Author

“It denotes the sound especially when a metallic object falls to the floor. So, literally it is a sound. But figuratively it also refers to a situation in which things fall apart of become chaotic or an upheaval. And so the reason why I chose that beautiful Creole word for the title of the world is because in both of the stories contained in the book, each protagonist has a pengereng in their life that they have to now try and pick up the pieces going forward.   It is a collection of short stories. Two relatively long short stories and the first story is presented in English and then in its Creole translation.   The two stories are contemporary and they both speak to situations and issues that are very relevant to today’s reality, not only Belizean reality but all modern societies. In the first story titled Stillborn, the protagonist is a young woman who attending university in the states. It is a love story. She falls in love and then she gets pregnant. She finds out that she is pregnant a few weeks after she and Omar break up. Does that sound like Pengereng to you? That sounds like Pengereng.  The characters for most of the story are millennials. They are my daughter’s age, the generation that is going to be leading us very soon. So, we have a written record of how the language sounds and feels and looks and can be expressed.”

The book is published by the Image Factory Art Foundation. You can get a copy for twenty dollars at Brodies, Dakers’ Book Store and the Image Factory. The book will also be available on Amazon.