Growing up on the East Coast Demerara, Rhea Mursalin developed a strong passion for writing at a young age. When she migrated with her family to Southern California, United States, three years ago, Rhea pursued opportunities to not only advance her writing skills but also utilised her creative abilities to maintain roots and promote her beloved home country of Guyana.

Her most recent work published in Brown Girl Magazine, a New York-based online publication, featured the late great Guyanese leader Dr. Cheddi Jagan alongside the recently appointed United States Vice President Kamla Harris, both of whom attended Howard University.

As a writer for the magazine, Mursalin contributes to the Indo-Caribbean section, which spotlights a wide array of issues regarding the Caribbean region and the huge West Indian Diaspora in North America. Looking ahead, the 20-year-old plans to focus her writings around issues of mental health, anxieties and depression, which she believes are of major concern in the Caribbean, but often vastly overlooked. She feels these are important matters that should be tackled including at the level of the school system to make the Caribbean population more aware and to better understand the impact.

Currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Communications at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), Mursalin attained her education up to the secondary level in Guyana and is also a graduate of Palomar College, San Diego. While at College, Rhea sharpened her skills writing for the campus newspaper, Telescope, in which she published a series of articles on various topics. She also landed an internship with The Vista Press, a daily online newspaper in the San Diego county, and an opportunity that allowed her to cover, report on and conduct research and interviews on several high profile events and individuals including Vista’s Mayor Judy Ritter and award-winning author of ‘Words on Bathroom Walls,’ Julia Walton.

In 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world into quarantine mode, and as many persons utilised the opportunity to explore their talents and gain new skills, Rhea used the time to fulfil a childhood dream of writing and publishing her own novel. Although she had already compiled a few sections for the novel, Rhea said she was not pleased with some of the writing and storyline. Though it was challenging, she managed the changes with the help of her elder sister, Raisa, and completed the book within five months. A work of fiction and story of mystery and high suspense, ‘The Beach House’., is available for purchase on Amazon and printed based on demand.

“The response to my book has been overwhelming and it’s very encouraging…Just recently, The Book Club, a Guyana online club, purchased a number of copies of the book for circulation to their members in and outside of Guyana,” Rhea related. The novel is dedicated to Rhea’s elder sister and her mother, Judith, a lawyer by profession, and a former Stabroek News journalist, who also worked as a State Prosecutor in Guyana before she migrated.

Aside from writing, Rhea enjoys the culinary arts, playing the piano, sewing and painting.