The Book of Alchemy

Suleika Jaouad was 22 and beginning a career when she was diagnosed with leukemia, an experience she first chronicled in a New York Times column and then in her bestselling memoir Between Two Kingdoms. While preparing The Book of Alchemy, she suffered a relapse and underwent a second bone marrow transplant. The book grows out of the daily journaling practice that helped her survive both illnesses. Part meditation on creativity and part practical guide, it gathers Jaouad's own reflections alongside short essays and prompts from more than a hundred contributors, among them poets, novelists, and musicians who treat writing as a life-saving practice. The result is a companion for anyone facing a hard passage, built on the idea that putting a life into words helps you make sense of it.