Meet Elan Barnehama: AUTHOR, EDITOR, TEACHER

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elan Barnehama and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elan, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk taking is at the center of changes I’ve made. And not taking risks is at the core of regrets I have had. About 9 years ago I decided to focus my best time and energy on my writing. To do this, I walked away from familiarity and community.

I needed a clean break. I went all in. And, I did not have a back-up plan.
I needed to shed stuff. I only kept essential stuff and a few must-haves that could fit into my small wagon. I took to the highway and headed west. I was drawn to Angelino histories, SoCal stories about rugged, adventurous people, risk takes who were passed over elsewhere and came to Los Angeles seeking to remake, to reinvent themselves.

My second novel, Escape Route, will be published in May 2022 by Running Wild Press and I’m at work on a new novel, AWOL, springing loosely from the idea that we have become overly risk averse as a society, as a culture, as a globe. And while I’m not sure there was ever a time in our history that this trend would not be troubling, I am certain that there could not be a worse moment for this trend to take hold.

So, yeah, I’ve run into obstacles along my journey. All of the usual ones and some unusual ones. But also, many successes. Maybe bumpy roads are the only roads worth traveling. It’s where I have found the most interesting people and experiences.

Risk taking is not easy – but really, it’s not supposed to be.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My second novel, Escape Route will be published later in May 2022 by Running Wild Press, an LA-based publishing house – whose Founder and Chief Editor, Lisa Diane Kastner was named by Yahoo/Finance as a Top 10 Entrepreneurs To Watch Out For in 2021. This small press is receiving a lot of attention for publishing great stories.

My words have appeared in Drunk Monkeys, Rough Cut Press, Boston Accent, Jewish Fiction, HuffPost, the New York Journal of Books, public radio, and elsewhere.

At different times, I’ve led community-based writing workshops – including Trade School LA, was a fiction editor at Forth Magazine LA, was a Writer-In-Residence at Wildacres, NC, and Fairhope Center For the Writing Arts, AL, worked with at-risk youth, coached high school varsity baseball, had a gig as a radio news guy, and did a mediocre job as a short-order cook. I am a New Yorker by geography, and a tortured Mets fan by default,

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
South Pasadena Arroyo Seco Trail
Santa Monica Steps on Adelaide Drive
West 4th and Jane, a Mets bar in Santa Monica
Santa Monica Beach above San Vicente
Culver City Steps
Culver City Hotel
Eaton Canyon Falls
Holy Guacamole, Main Street, Santa Monica

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My chosen family, the ones who always show up: Henry Shaw, Jimmy Farka, Jeff Weinberger Winwood, Ritchie Warman, Sarah Catz, Michael Shoenberg.

Rhonda Fishman, who has added adventure and humor to my journey.

And in no particular order, folks who I know little about but who are part of the foundation of how I see myself and how I would like to see the world: Toni Morrison, JD Salinger, Jack Kerouac, Bobbie Ann Mason, Bob Dylan, Sandy Koufax.

Website: http://elanbarnehama.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elan32/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElanBarnehama

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elan.barnehama

Image Credits
picture of me: Rhonda Fishman photo credit drawing: Radiaton by Rhonda Fishman, photo by Rhonda Fishman