A New Poetry Book is Released

An anthology of poems written by Belizean American, Flora Emelda Anderson Chestnut was officially launched today at the Image Factory in Belize City. Quiet Moments; Rejuvenation of the Soul is the reflection of a Belizean woman who addresses social and political issues, life-changing experiences and Belizean history. The fifty-eight-page book of poems is published by Bluehole Publishing. This is her second book and a portion of the funds generated from its sale is used to assist the feeding programme at her alma mater, Saint Mary’s Primary School in Belize City. Chestnut says that the book also speaks to the intangible cultural heritage of our Belizean identity.

Flora Emelda Anderson Chestnut

Flora Emelda Anderson Chestnut, Poet

“That’s definitely what I want to do; for us never to be ashamed of where we came from, but to really dig deeper to encourage our youths and kids to be proud of who they are, a Belizean and to look at the intangible, of all that God blessed us with.  That’s why in the one poem that I said, we are Belize—one people, one nation. It speaks about everything—not only what the country is made up of, but also the people—that we all call Belize home although we are different ethnicity and so forth. And then I also have one aspect in there; one of my poem also talk about the conflict that still exists between the Creole and the Garinagu and that we are one people; I mean we look at each other and both groups are of African descent. So I address the spiritual aspect of life; also the social aspect which is what’s going on with the killing and all that…just a whole piece with that. And I also address the history of Belize and also a little part of Africa. I address also slavery with us being…I call it instead of slavery, ‘bahafa’ which was like a black holocaust.”

The poetry book will be available at the Image Factory and other bookstores for twenty dollars each.