A ground-breaking collection of short stories in English and Belize Kriol, Pengereng contains the first major work of fiction written entirely in the standard Belize Kriol spelling system. “Pengereng” is a Belize Kriol word that denotes the noise made when an object falls to the floor. Figuratively, it also refers to a great disturbance or upheaval, such as those experienced by the protagonists in this second collection by Belizean author Ivory Kelly. Set in Belize and the United States, the stories in Pengereng will resonate with readers of all backgrounds as they probe into issues that are both universal and Belize-specific. “Stillborn” raises a question to which there’s no easy answer: Is a woman ever justified in excluding her child’s father from the child’s life? Meanwhile, in “Dear Editor,” inspired by the 2009 death of a baby at a hospital in southern Belize, racism and political victimization are at the center of a young family's heart-breaking tragedy.
Ivory Kelly is also the author of Point of Order: Poetry and Prose. Her works have appeared in journals and anthologies in the Caribbean, the UK, the US, Mexico, Brazil, and Belize. In 2018 she was the winner of the Copal Distillery Fellowship at the Belize Writers’ Conference, and in 2017 the third and second place winner of the Belize Literary Prize in the poetry and fiction categories respectively. Kelly was born and grew up in Sittee River Village. She currently teaches in the Languages and Literature Department at the University of Belize and is a founding member of the Belizean Writers Guild. For more information, visit her website at
http://www.ivorykelly.com.
A ground-breaking collection of short stories in English and Belize Kriol, Pengereng contains the first major work of fiction written entirely in the standard Belize Kriol spelling system. “Pengereng” is a Belize Kriol word that denotes the noise made when an object falls to the floor. Figuratively, it also refers to a great disturbance or upheaval, such as those experienced by the protagonists in this second collection by Belizean author Ivory Kelly. Set in Belize and the United States, the stories in Pengereng will resonate with readers of all backgrounds as they probe into issues that are both universal and Belize-specific. “Stillborn” raises a question to which there’s no easy answer: Is a woman ever justified in excluding her child’s father from the child’s life? Meanwhile, in “Dear Editor,” inspired by the 2009 death of a baby at a hospital in southern Belize, racism and political victimization are at the center of a young family's heart-breaking tragedy.
Ivory Kelly is also the author of Point of Order: Poetry and Prose. Her works have appeared in journals and anthologies in the Caribbean, the UK, the US, Mexico, Brazil, and Belize. In 2018 she was the winner of the Copal Distillery Fellowship at the Belize Writers’ Conference, and in 2017 the third and second place winner of the Belize Literary Prize in the poetry and fiction categories respectively. Kelly was born and grew up in Sittee River Village. She currently teaches in the Languages and Literature Department at the University of Belize and is a founding member of the Belizean Writers Guild. For more information, visit her website at
http://www.ivorykelly.com.
