About Me

My name is Ferdinand, also known as Holly, Regan. I’m a writer, editor, artist, and journalist. I tell stories about people that explore higher truths through our experiences with consciousness-altering substances: food, drink, and entheogens.

I focus on the stories of underrepresented people with an emphasis on queer and gender identity, positioned at the intersection of food, beverage, and entheogen-centered stories with socio-economic and historical commentary. My work appears in Whetstone Magazine, Good Beer Hunting, Eater Seattle, Unearth Women, and October, and I co-authored with my mentor, Richard Parker, for The New York Times.

I am a native of Seattle, Washington, but live as a digital nomad in various places around the world. I have spent the most time in the U.K., which I dearly love; I also lived in Austin, Texas for seven years. In former timelines, I was a barista; held a series of unglamorous food-service jobs; worked at bicycle shops; and co-hosted cheese-pairing pop-ups with my good pal.

In this incarnation, I identify as queer and gender-expansive; above all, I am a spiritual seeker. I’m also an artist, runner, cook, beer nerd, celebrator, anthropologist, social justice advocate, and tree-hugging hippie.

Follow me on Instagram @hollyreganwrites or Twitter @HollyLRegan.

What will you find here?

In this newsletter, I will share essays, stories, and musings about the human experience, particularly as it intersects with issues of identity and our relationship with consciousness-altering through food, drink, and entheogenic substances. I focus on queerness, gender issues, spirituality, politics, activism, art, and alternative systems, explored through both my personal experience and the lives of others. Won’t you join me?

Paid subscribers will get access to occasional zines that I illustrate myself, going deeper on a topic or personal story. But I don’t like putting what I write behind a paywall, so you’ll largely be donating to support my efforts to share what I’ve learned, explore new ideas, and create a platform for individual expression within this late capitalist framework—along with full access to the newsletter and website.

All artwork and photography is my own unless otherwise specified.

To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.