Happy, Okay?

MJ is widely read in the French Caribbean http://ile-en-ile.org/fievre/ She has authored nine books in French Her short stories and poems in English have appeared in various anthologies and magazines Her plays have been performed at the Miami MicroTheater, at the O, Miami Festival, at Poetry Press Week, and at Compositum Musicae Novae. In 2016, Aesop Coconut Grove hosted an installation representing the meters of M.J.’s poem, “On Charles Avenue.” She founded Sliver of Stone Magazine She obtained an MFA from the Creative Writing Program at Florida International University. She taught writing for 8 years at Nova Middle School in Davie, and later became a writing professor at Broward College and Miami Dade College. She’s been a key note speaker at Tufts University (Massachusetts), Howard University (Washington, D.C.), the University of Miami (Florida), and Michael College (Vermont), and a panelist at the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference (AWP).  She’s taught ekphrastic poetry and haiku workshops at the Miami Art Museum, and in various schools, including iTech @ Thomas A. Edison Educational Center, in Miami, and Tedder Elementary, in Pompano Beach. She’s an ambassador for Lip Service, a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation award-winning organization and a Miami institution. She’s also a proud member of the Miami Poetry Collective, famous for its Poem Depot, a regular feature of Wynwood’s Second Saturday Art Walk. She’s participated to Haiti en Livres, the Anancy Festival, and the South Florida Book Festival, and at various literary events at Miami  City Hall, Miami Dade College, Broward College (“Caribbean Week” and “Literary Feast”), and the University of Miami. She’s an educator who wrote several educational scripts for the University of Miami, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. The scripts, turned into short films, were written in both English and Haitian Creole and aim at educating the Little Haiti community about diabetes, cervical cancer, and the HPV vaccine. In March 2015, M.J. received the “Beacon of Hope and Achievement Award” from the Consulate General of Haiti in Miami. M.J. currently serves at the ReadCaribbean program coordinator for the Miami Book Fair.

In this inspiring and heartwarming book, readers will Understand how to make happiness a decision, even when they don’t feel it in their bones. Find out how to exercise patience and self-acceptance. Attract hope and purpose back into their lifePoetry to Confront Depression, Anxiety, Grief, and LossAre the usual anxiety books helping you find a path to healing? No? Try this collection of poetry specially crafted for those dealing with mental health and the people closest to them. Poetry meets mental health. Paloma is faking it. On the outside, she’s A-Okay. She’s electrified at work, there is a cadence in her step as she walks her dog, she posts memes on Facebook, and she keeps up with most relationships. Looks can be deceiving, however. Inside, Paloma is just going through the motions, and she feels like things are spiraling out of control. But when things are at their darkest, dawn arrives with clarity and focus, and with it, healing. Paloma learns to value small glimmering moments of joy rather than searching for constant happiness, thus building hope for her future. A manifesto for life. An electric roadmap to healing and a manifesto for wholeness, Happy, Okay?: Poems about Anxiety, Depression, Hope, and Survival, is written in a contemporary style reminiscent of Rupi Kaur and Pierre Alex Jeanty. But this poetry book is not simply a narrative spun in verse. It is an invitation to readers to shake off the stigma and silence of mental health and find strength in the only voice that matters: your own. Whether exploring self-care, social anxiety, or anxiety in relationship, in this inspiring and heartwarming book, you will: Understand how to make happiness a decision, even when you don’t feel it in your bones Find out how to exercise patience and self-acceptance Attract hope and purpose back into your life If you enjoy poem books or books like Her, Black Girl Magic, Pillow Thoughts, Milk and Honey, or The Sun and Her Flowers, then you will love Happy, Okay? by M.J. Fievre.