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| Published by Lucky Press, 2011 |
Available now.
Paperback $14.95 USD:
Signed copies: Celery Tree
Nook $6.99 USD: Barnes & Noble
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Greek cuisine, smog and domestic drudgery was not the life Australian musician, Melody, was expecting when she married a Greek music promoter and settled in Athens, Greece. Keen to play in her new shoes, though, Melody trades her guitar for a ‘proper' career and her music for motherhood. That is, until she can bear it no longer and plots a return to the stage—and the person she used to be. However, the obstacles she faces along the way are nothing compared to the tragedy that awaits ....
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Jessica Bell’s STRING BRIDGE strummed the fret of my veins, thrummed my blood into a mad rush, played me taut until the final page, yet with echoes still reverberating. A rhythmic debut with metrical tones of heavied dark, fleeting prisms of light, and finally, a burst of joy—just as with any good song, my hopeful heartbeat kept tempo with Bell’s narrative. ~ Kathryn Magendie, author of Sweetie, publishing editor of Rose & Thorn Journal
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| Published by Vine Leaves Press, 2012 |
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Paperback $5.50 USD:
Signed copies: Celery Tree
From “Spandex” to the Greek kafeneion, there are unexpected juxtapositions and discoveries to be found in Jessica Bell’s poetry Fabric. This voice is equally inspired by the quotidian, Greek jargon words, and the mythic figures of Echo and Narcissus, Aphrodite, and, of course, Euterpe, the muse of music and the lyric. The interstices of the so-called ordinary with the always larger dramas of feeling and its consequences are among the subjects this young poet explores in her vivid weave of language. ~Adrianne Kalfopoulou, author of Wild Greens, Cumulus and Passion Maps
Jessica Bell's FABRIC is a rich collection of poems that take the reader on a deep tour of the psyche. Charting and moving across politics of language, Bell explores love, pain, failure and redemption from a variety of angles. Most of the poems sit at the fragile threshold of instinct and meaning, using symbol and sensation to get to the shock of denouement. This is a significant collection that bears multiple readings, each time yielding something fresh. ~Magdalena Ball, author of Black Cow, Sleep Before Evening, and Repulsion Thrust
Mixing both light and dark subjects, Fabric slips as smoothly as silk across the poetry-lover's mind. Bell knows what she's doing, and she won't disappoint with this elegantly textured collection. Truly a treasure! ~Michelle Davidson Argyle, author of Cinders and True Colors
Fabric is spun with threads of imagination, realism, and unanswered questions. Jessica Bell weaves from the outer edges of the human condition to the inner tapestry of the mind, sewing through love, trust, and betrayal. Bell is adept with words and imagery ; her edgy tone, both daring and tender, seamlessly captures the hearts and minds of everyday people. ~ Angela Felsted, author of Cleave
With a deft touch and an acute eye, Jessica Bell weaves humanity into startling vistas, blending the vivid threads of contemporary introspection among a tapestry of tangible scenery. The seamless entwining of the historical with the present, results in a garment the reader may slip on with pleasure, at any moment, and find themselves lost in its intricacies, and more beautiful for its embrace. ~Vicky Ellis, author and poet
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| Published independently, 2011 |
Available Now!
Twisted Velvet Chains is a collection of poems which follows the experiences of one woman growing up with a bipolar, drug addicted, gothic musician mother. Each poem represents specific moments of their life that embrace vivid rich imagery, and illustrate the turmoil of emotions both experience while together. The collection is divided into four parts that flow one into the other from childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and post-death.
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"Twisted Velvet Chains is a vivid, unexpected gut-kick, rarely seen in poetry. Jessica Bell's voice is a terrifying mix of crying child, angry teen, and screaming adult heard inside the rock and roll tornado of abuse. Her use of music and unique form create a vibrating song of poems demanding to be heard. Readers will remember TVC 's haunting chords long after the last stanza is struck."– Alaine DiBenedetto Benard, poet and artist
“Through the poet's adept and generous use of clipped lines, staccatos, onomatopoeia, smells, and descriptions of icky body fluids, these poems tell the story of a mother and daughter hopelessly linked by love and hate. Jessica Bell doesn't let up. She is a genius at portraying the raw and dark parts of life through her use of words and where she places them on the page. This is an exciting and wonderful read.” — Madeline Sharples, author of Leaving The Hall Light On , co-author of The Emerging Goddess book of poems and photography, and co-editor of The Great American Poetry Show , Volumes 1 and 2
“A bold, unique voice, Jessica Bell's words leap into existence with the bravery of raw, vivid imagery and language aimed straight at the heart of the matter. Masterful, lyrical and haunting, Twisted Velvet Chains is a pulls no punches approach to tackling painful, delicate subject matter with a refined skill and subtle grace.” —Debbie Berk, Editor of The Stray Branch.
“In Twisted Velvet Chains you enter a landscape that is sensual and metaphysical, comic and tragic, where Gothic Neanderthals give birth to songs, and a little girl's vulnerabilities leak out from the pages. Jessica Bell is a shape shifter; explorer of childhood memories, and observer of our existential loneliness, alienation, and detachment. ‘I think it's a black hole;/ A cage of demons: women, men, children, red poppies./ Some days it's darker than others; depends on the light/ —like your dark bitter soul.' ” — Mark Van Aken Williams, Author of Circus by Moonlight and The Prophet of Sorrow .
“ Twisted Velvet Chains might best be described as a collection of fractured memories viewed through the kaleidoscope of a tortured mother-child relationship. Even if the side effects of reading may be a bit of nausea and dizziness, you can't extract yourself from Bell 's twisted poetic chains until you've read them all.” — Angie Ledbetter, Co-publishing Editor of Rose & Thorn Journal
Jessica, I recently downloaded Twisted Velvet Chains on my Kindle and am really enjoying it. Anytime I can steal a moment to read, I turn right to it and take in a poem or two.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to stop by and say congrats on achieving No. 1 in Kindle poetry - it's a well-deserved accomplishment.
~Alana (writercize)
Thank you so much, Alana. That means so much to me :)
ReplyDelete