This month, I chatted to Wales-based writer and editor Regina Beach about health conditions, public libraries, the power of words to transcend time and space, and how to rhyme Joe Biden’s cabinet.
Tell us a bit about yourself – where are you from and what do you do?
I’m an American writer living in Wales. Much of my work is using writing and mindfulness as tools for catharsis and processing of big life changes and especially long-term health diagnoses.
I stumbled into the world of expressive and therapeutic writing after my own chronic illness diagnosis in 2021 and now run creative wellbeing workshops, and chronicle my own journey using creative tools through my newsletter.
I’m really passionate about helping people get their work out to the world and overcoming perceived barriers to being a published author. I am the editor-in-chief of the London Writers’ Salon’s anthology and assistant editor for the Stafford Challenge anthology and the From Where I Sit anthology. I also run a digital and print literary magazine featuring the art and words of people living with chronic health conditions called Lesions. If that sounds like you, I’d love to feature your work.
Where did your love of words come from?
I’ve been a voracious reader since childhood and have very fond memories of spending time in the public library from a young age. I’m enamoured with the written word’s ability to transcend time and space creating a direct communication line from writer to reader. American writer and journalist Joan Didion’s reasons for writing resonate so strongly with me and mirror why I put my own words on the page. In her book of essays Let Me Tell You What I Mean she says, “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” I’m often shocked at the clarity of what shows up in my notebook or on my screen in comparison to the jumble of thoughts that live in my brain.
What made you join 26? And how long have you been a member?
I’ve been a member since 2023. Lauren McMenemy, who serves at 26’s Website and Membership Officer, invited me to join. We met through the London Writers’ Salon. As someone who felt a bit lost literarily having moved to the UK just before the first pandemic lockdown, it was so lovely to meet like-minded writers this side of the pond.
Have you been involved in any 26 projects?
I’m currently involved in the 26 Bridges project looking at all of the bridges spanning the Thames in London as a writer. I’m excited to be writing about Tower Bridge. I’m also an editor on the year-long Momento Mori project looking at death and dying from all angles. (We’d love your pitches or for you to submit completed work.)
What’s your ideal scenario for writing? (A coffee shop? Quiet retreat? With or without music? What do you do to get yourself in the right frame of mind?)
I recently had the pleasure of attending Literature Wales’ Speak Back program at their Tŷ Newydd retreat center in Cricieth. I love being on retreat where the rest of the busy world melts away and I feel like I can truly focus.
The majority of the time, however, I’m writing in my office with my long-haired foster fail princess Rhea curled up behind my monitor. (She’s quite the task master.) I painted the walls pink, usually have a bouquet of flowers on my desk and I’m surrounded by houseplants and views of the Welsh hills. I’ve tried to make my work space as retreat-like as possible. I’m too distractible to listen to music while I’m writing but I always start out with a cup of hot tea by my side. And sometimes I even remember to drink it before it gets cold!
What are you working on at the moment?
I always have a bunch of projects in the works. In addition to my newsletter, lit mag, and the various editing projects I’m working on, I’m also writing a whole-food plant-based cookbook. It’s been a very different style of writing than what I typically write and I’m teaching myself food styling and photography as part of the process. This is a passion project inspired by my own efforts to eat an anti-inflammatory diet as part of using lifestyle to help self-manage my health. I’m really excited about this book despite how long it’s taking to finish and plan to self-publish later this year.
Could you tell us about a piece of writing you’re particularly proud of?
In 2024 I wrote a poetry pamphlet with a poem dedicated to each member of President Joe Biden’s cabinet, which is the most diverse and inclusive cabinet in the history of the United States. We’re currently in such uncertain times in terms of the world stage and while I’m usually not overtly political in my writing, these poems felt really important to bring to the world. The poems rhyme (also unusual for me) and are full of facts and history from the cabinet member’s childhoods and careers. This was my first foray into self publishing my own work. I got to dust my designer hat off (I studied journalism and publication design in university) and used official White House portraits along with AI filters to create colour images to accompany each poem.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I tend to write based on lived experience, either my own or others. I love ekphrastic and artifactual poetry that take inspiration from a piece of visual art or a physical artifact and build the words around the object. I’m an insatiable traveller (I met my British partner while living in Asia which is how I ended up in the UK) and love taking inspiration from the people I meet and places I visit around the globe.
That being said, I’m a huge advocate of not waiting for inspiration and instead setting up rituals and time to create even if the output on any given day is garbage. If you write enough words, some are bound to be good.