Story & Lesson Highlights with Ben Shahon of Long Beach

We recently had the chance to connect with Ben Shahon and have shared our conversation below.

Ben, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: Have you ever been glad you didn’t act fast?
Thanks for chatting with me! To answer the question, not particularly. In many ways, I’ve been the impulsive type (in writing, in pursuing academics, etc.), and usually holding back has cost me more than acting quickly would have.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a literary writer living in greater Long Beach. I’ve got a pair of chapbooks (“Short Relief” from .406 Press and “A Collection for No One to Read” from Bottlecap Press), and was the founding editor of JAKE: The Anti-Literary Magazine and Press. I’ve handed off control of JAKE, but still edit with them, and have recently started reading work publically with more frequency than I have in some time at readings in LA. I’ve been doing indie literature for a good while now (about six full years), and am loving every minute of it (even if it doesn’t pay the bills).

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
Like a lot of folks who wind up as writers, there was a period of my life where I saw being the smartest/most successful/coolest writer as the most important thing, and I pursued that relentlessly. While I still think there was something to be gained from that mindset at the time I had it (I certainly worked harder reading and writing during that period than any time in my life before or since), I’ve grown to recognize that for me, being a good member of your community, and doing right by the people who need you to is way more important. Not to say I don’t make mistakes (I certainly do on that front), but that’s what’s guiding my decision-making 99 time out of 100 these days.

What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
A couple of years ago, I was working as an adjunct writing professor working out of a lot of expensive, east-coast schools. I was balancing teaching loads at a couple of schools, and one year, I took on a pair of classes (one per semester) at a school that had a little less money, a little less focus on writing and liberal arts as a measure of the school’s success. And I felt that I had a much easier time balancing work/writing/life there than I was at the other kinds of jobs I was working before (even if the money wasn’t as good). Which is all to say, I think I needed to let go of the idea of myself as the writer’s writer/classical academic that so many writerly types are invited to think of themselves as in order to be folded into the academy. I might find my way back into teaching someday, but it’ll be for the kinds of students who were more like me if I do, I think.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
I mean, yeah. But that’s because I mostly think people who say otherwise are kidding themselves to some extent. We all exist for each other.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
I don’t entirely know that “retiring” from literature in a traditional sense is something I’ll ever be able to do, because I’m just not the type to stop writing, trying to publish, working with other writers. But I suppose if/when I get to that point, my hope is that I won’t be personally missed too badly besides the ways we all want to be missed by friends and loved ones when we’re gone. I want the community around me to be strong enough that losing one jenga block doesn’t bring the whole tower crashing down.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://benshahon.com
• Other: @beansbaker5.bsky.social on bluesky