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Poorna Bell
Born
Poorna Devi Shetty

(1980-12-05) 5 December 1980 (age 44)
Maidstone, England
Alma materQueen Mary University of London
Years active2003–present
Spouse
Rob Bell
​
​
(m. 2011; died 2015)​
Websitewww.poornabell.com

Poorna Devi Bell (née Shetty; born 5 December 1980) is an English journalist and author.

Early life

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Poorna Devi Shetty was born in Maidstone, Kent to Kannada South Indian parents Jaya and Ashok Shetty.[1] Her older sister is science writer Priya Joi.[2] Bell graduated with a degree in English from Queen Mary University of London in 2002.[3]

Career

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Bell began her career in the 2000s as an editor for Asiana, then a commissioning editor for The London Paper and a launch features editor for Grazia India. She was also a contributor to the BBC Asian Network. Bell received a 2007 Women of the Future Award nomination in the Media category.[4] After a stint as senior travel editor at MSN UK, Bell joined HuffPost in 2013,[5] where she served as Executive Editor and Global Lifestyle Head until 2017. She has had columns in Marie Claire[6] and The i Paper.[7]

In the aftermath of her husband Rob's suicide, Bell penned him an open letter in HuffPost followed by a memoir and her debut non-fiction mental health book titled Chase the Rainbow, published in 2017 via Simon & Schuster.[8][9] Bell reunited with Simon & Schuster for a follow-up in 2019 titled In Search of Silence.[10] In Search of Silence was a 2019 Big Book winner, awarded by Hearst UK.[11] Bell won the Rising Star Award at Stylist's inaugural Remarkable Women Awards.[12]

Bell's third non-fiction book Stronger: Changing Everything I Knew About Women's Strength was published in spring 2021 via Bluebird (a Pan Macmillan imprint). The book advocates for "mental strength through fitness".[13][14] Stronger won Sports Performance Book of the Year at the 2022 Sports Book Awards.[15]

As announced in 2021, Century (a Penguin Books UK imprint) acquired the rights to publish Bell'a debut fiction novel In Case of Emergency.[16] Her second novel This is Fine followed in 2024, also via Century.[17] Her next non-fiction book She Wanted More will be published by LEAP (a Bonnier Books imprint).[18]

Personal life

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In 2011, she married New Zealand science journalist Rob Bell. Her husband died by suicide in May 2015. He had struggled with depression and drug addiction.[19]

Bibliography

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Non-fiction

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  • Chase the Rainbow (2017)
  • In Search of Silence (2019)
  • Stronger: Changing Everything I Knew About Women's Strength (2021)
  • She Wanted More (2026)

Novels

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  • In Case of Emergency (2022)
  • This is Fine (2024)

References

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  1. ^ Bell, Poorna (9 June 2018). "'After my husband's death, my parents and I became equals'". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  2. ^ Poorna Bell (7 January 2024). "Death to gym knickers". As I Was Saying. Retrieved 25 November 2024 – via Substack.
  3. ^ "Queen Mary Alumni: Media". Queen Mary University of London. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  4. ^ "Poorna Shetty". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  5. ^ "2014 Judges". World Photography Organisation. 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  6. ^ Bell, Poorna (3 August 2022). "Poorna Bell: "How do you take centre stage of your own life, when you've grown up seeing yourself on the sidelines?"". Marie Claire. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  7. ^ "Poorna Bell". iNews. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  8. ^ Onwuemezi, Natasha (2016). "'Uplifting' account of modern-day masculinity to S&S". The Bookseller. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  9. ^ "Chase the rainbow by Poorna Bell: A book about suicide, grief and addiction". Suicide & Co. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  10. ^ Onwuemezi, Natasha (10 November 2017). "S&S to publish 'raw' memoir from Poorna Bell". The Bookseller. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  11. ^ "Hearst UK announces 2019 Big Book winners". Hearst UK. 12 June 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  12. ^ "Stylist announces winners of its first Remarkable Women Awards". PPA. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  13. ^ Hackett, Tamsin (5 March 2020). "Bluebird to publish new book by Poorna Bell". The Bookseller. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  14. ^ Brogan, Jen (8 January 2024). "Jen Brogan reviews Stronger: Changing Everything I Knew About Women's Strength by Poorna Bell". Disgraceful. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  15. ^ "Stronger". Sports Book Awards. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  16. ^ Chandler, Mark (11 March 2021). "Bell's 'hilarious' debut novel goes to Century". The Bookseller. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  17. ^ Finney, Joanne (2 July 2024). "What the writers are reading right now". Good Housekeeping. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  18. ^ Wood, Heloise (21 January 2025). "LEAP buys She Wanted More by Poorna Bell". The Bookseller. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  19. ^ Midgley, Carol (27 April 2017). "My husband told me he was on heroin". The Times. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
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