a rallying cry from the trenches of maternal mental illness
with a medical forward
by Dr. riah Patterson
Now Available as an Audiobook
Photo by Jake Frost
about the author
Bridget Bell (b. 1983) is a poet, educator, proofreader, and digital marketing associate. She teaches composition and literature at Durham Technical Community College, proofreads manuscripts for Four Way Books, and is a communications guru for Anchor Perinatal Wellness. Raised in the suburbs of Toledo, Ohio, she earned her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. She resides in Durham, North Carolina. You can also occasionally find her pouring pints behind the bar at Ponysaurus brewery.
Additionally, she is a survivor of postpartum depression and believes strongly in the healing power of art. All That We Ask of You Is to Always Be Happy is her debut collection.
about the book
All that We Ask of You Is to Always Be Happy is a rallying cry from the trenches of maternal mental illness: a cry for visibility, for treatment, for compassion. Mixing academic research with personal experience, these poems push back against the rosy picture society paints of motherhood and instead lay bare the raw, neglected parts: the rage, the sorrow, the confusion, the ambivalence, the tentative joy. But these lines do more than simply give voice—they weave together to create a lyrical safety net, a road map to survival.
upcoming events
Upcoming Events
Perinatal OCD Through Poetry: A Lived-Experience and Clinical DiscussionSun, Jul 12International OCD Foundation Conference