The Green Bell

In 1972 Paula Keogh becomes a patient in M Ward, the psychiatric ward of a Canberra hospital. While there, she meets the poet Michael Dransfield. They fall wholly and boldly and ecstatically in love.



Paula discovers a self she thought she had lost, while Michael is inspired to write the poems that become The Second Month of Spring. Together they plan for 'a wedding, marriage, kids - the whole trip'.



But M Ward is a liminal, purgatorial place - a twilight realm where patients endure the existential pain that is mental illness. Madness and grief challenge Paula and Michael's luminous dream. Can their love survive?



THE GREEN BELL is a lyrical and profoundly moving memoir about love and madness. A hymn to life. A requiem for lost friends. A coming of age story that takes a lifetime.

“One of the most beautifully written and wisest memoirs I have ever read. - The Sydney Morning HeraldA kind of radiance illuminates this beautiful book. - The Guardian[The Green Bell is] Paula Keogh's heart-searching quest to understand the schizophrenia afflicting her. She has written a brave and beautiful book. - Rodney Hall, two-time winner of the Miles Franklin”

One of the most beautifully written and wisest memoirs I have ever read. - The Sydney Morning Herald

A kind of radiance illuminates this beautiful book. - The Guardian

[The Green Bell is] Paula Keogh's heart-searching quest to understand the schizophrenia afflicting her. She has written a brave and beautiful book. - Rodney Hall, two-time winner of the Miles Franklin

Before becoming a Melbourne writer and teacher, Paula Keogh lived in various country towns and cities, and worked in many fields of endeavour. She earned a PhD in Creative Writing from La Trobe University while working on The Green Bell and teaching academic writing at RMIT University. In 2015, Paula received an Affirm Press Mentorship Award for the development of The Green Bell at Varuna, the National Writers House. In 2018, The Green Bell was shortlisted for the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction as part of the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, and longlisted for the Stella Prize.

In 1972 Paula Keogh becomes a patient in M Ward, the psychiatric ward of a Canberra hospital. While there, she meets the poet Michael Dransfield. They fall wholly and boldly and ecstatically in love.Paula discovers a self she thought she had lost, while Michael is inspired to write the poems that become The Second Month of Spring. Together they plan for 'a wedding, marriage, kids - the whole trip'.But M Ward is a liminal, purgatorial place - a twilight realm where patients endure the existential pain that is mental illness. Madness and grief challenge Paula and Michael's luminous dream. Can their love survive? THE GREEN BELL is a lyrical and profoundly moving memoir about love and madness. A hymn to life. A requiem for lost friends. A coming of age story that takes a lifetime.

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