Both Suleika Jaouad and Diego Perez, who writes as Yung Pueblo, arrived at writing through adversity. Writing became a way of life when each was faced with death, a healing mechanism that became a craft.

When they met for the first time in person at our headquarters in San Francisco, they greeted each other with the enthusiasm of old friends reuniting. They fell into conversation with natural intimacy and comfort before we had a chance to press the “record” button and continued talking for another hour past the taping’s end. They were familiar with each other’s writing and eager to share their personal stories with each other, as in an attempt to forge a new friendship. As they spoke, they discovered just how parallel their paths had been, as well as new points of intersection in their philosophies.

Alchemizing pain into creativity is a recurring theme among writers. In his Letters to a Young Poet, Rilke famously wrote, “So don’t be frightened, dear friend, if a sadness confronts you larger than any you have ever known, casting its shadow over all you do. You must think that something is happening within you, and remember that life has not forgotten you; it holds you in its hand and will not let you fall. Why would you want to exclude from your life any uneasiness, any pain, any depression, since you don’t know what work they are accomplishing within you?”

Suleika and Diego have made this alchemy their mission. They have created spaces—her The Isolation Journals and his Elevate with Yung Pueblo—where people can meet and turn their experiences into art. They foster and grow with their writing communities, and have invited them into their writing practice.

In this conversation, Suleika and Diego discuss each of their journeys to the “art-making stage,” how they turn confession into craft and protect their creative spaces while living in community, and their own advice to writers and poets of all backgrounds and ages. 

https://theisolationjournals.substack.com/ https://yungpueblo.substack.com/ 

Show notes

* Subscribe to The Isolation Journals by Suleika Jaouad and Yung Pueblo by Diego Perez on Substack

* Find Suleika on Twitter, and Instagram, and Diego on Twitter, and Instagram 

* Suleika’s book Between Two Kingdoms

* Diego’s poetry and prose books, Inward, Clarity & Connection, and The Way Forward, and Lighter

* [04:31] Suleika on starting journaling

* [06:09] Diego’s background* [08:29] Creativity as healing

* [10:50] Suleika on starting The Isolation Journals

* [13:51] Diego on writing with readers

* [16:16] The universe will take care of you

* [18:29] Suleika on finding painting

* [21:15] Suleika on responding to hard moments

* [25:43] Confronting mortality

* [29:13] The writing process

* [32:08] Art v social media

* [37:00] Writing on Substack and what’s next

The Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hamish McKenzie, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, and content production by Hannah Ray. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com