Suleika Jaouad

Suleika Jaouad ( soo-LAY-kə jə-WAHD; Arabic: سليكة جواد; born July 5, 1988) is an American writer, advocate, and motivational speaker. She is the author of the "Life, Interrupted" column in The New York Times and has also written for Vogue, Glamour, NPR's All Things Considered and Women's Health. Her 2021 memoir Between Two Kingdoms, covering her struggle with leukemia, was a New York Times Best Seller. Her second book, The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life, was published on April 22, 2025.

Early life and education

Jaouad was born in New York City to a Muslim father from Tunisia and a Catholic mother from Switzerland. Her father, Hédi, taught French at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. Her mother, Anne, is an artist. Suleika attended the Juilliard School's pre-college program, where she studied the double bass.

She attended Princeton University, where she majored in Near Eastern studies and double-minored in French and gender studies, receiving an AB with highest honors in 2010. A decade later, in 2020, she earned an MFA in writing and literature from Bennington College. Jaouad travels around the U.S., teaching writing and wellness workshops and speaking at high schools, universities, hospitals, corporations, fund-raisers, and professional events. Her story has been featured on NPR's Talk of the Nation, NBC's Weekend Today, and the CBS News, while also appearing in The Paris Review, the Los Angeles Times, and Darling magazine, among others. Her TED Talk, entitled "What almost dying taught me about living," was released in June 2019.