Bridget Bell & Heather Frese

Heather Frese's debut novel, The Baddest Girl on the Planet, won the Lee Smith Novel Prize, was longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize, and was named to the Women's National Book Association's Great Group Reads. The Saddest Girl on the Beach, a companion novel, was released in 2024. Heather received her M.F.A. from West Virginia University and has a master’s degree from Ohio University. Coastal North Carolina is her longtime love and source of inspiration, her writing deeply influenced by the wild magic and history of the Outer Banks. A native Ohioan, she currently teaches, writes, edits, and wrangles three small children in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Bridget Bell's poetry collection—All That We Ask of You Is to Always Be Happy (CavanKerry, 2025)—was called an “urgent, cleareyed debut” by the New York Times Book Review. The collection explores maternal mental health based on personal experience with postpartum depression and academic research. She’s the recipient of a North Carolina Arts Council Artist Support Grant and teaches English at Durham Technical Community College. You can find her online at bridgetbellpoetry.com.

You may also like the following events from So & So Books:

• Next Wednesday, 4th June, 07:00 pm, 33 1/3 Book Club in Raleigh

Also check out other Arts events in Raleigh, Health & Wellness events in Raleigh, Literary Art events in Raleigh.