• Broken Hallelujah: collected stories, coming 2026

• Escape Route, a novel. Running Wild Press, May 2022. Escape Route is set in the summer of '69, a year littered with hope and upheaval around the globe.

• Friends Anthology, “Showing Up,” Jack Walker Press, October 2020

• A Mile in Our Shoes: Personal stories of global journeys, Editor (one of three): Elan Barnehama, compiled by Nadia Ho de Guillén, Independent Pub, December 2019

• “Just Be,” Running Wild Anthology of Stories, Volume 2, Running Wild Press. March 2018.

• Finding Bluefield, a novel. September 2012. In process of being reissued.

ESCAPE ROUTE is set in New York City during the tumultuous late 1960s. Told by teenager Zach, a first-generation son of Holocaust survivors and NY Mets fan, who becomes obsessed with the Vietnam War and with finding an escape route for his family for when he believes, the US will round up and incarcerate its Jews. Zach meets Samm, a seventh-generation Manhattanite whose brother has returned from Vietnam with PTSD. Together they explore protest, friendship, music, faith, and love during a time littered with hope and upheaval around the globe.

PRAISE FOR ESCAPE ROUTE

“A powerful coming-of-age story set amid the turmoil of the 1960s, the Vietnam War, and a family’s Holocaust memories. Beautifully rendered and unforgettable.”— Frye Gaillard, author of A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s

“Charming, engrossing, and real. I loved Zach’s wit and courage, Samm’s cool confidence, and the grandfather’s warmth. A moving story full of heart.”— Kiki Smith, Professor of Theatre, Smith College; Obie Award winner

“With incandescent prose, Barnehama stitches our hearts to his glowing characters—and never lets go.”— Marvin J. Wolf, author of Abandoned in Hell and They Were Soldiers

“A poignant Sixties coming-of-age tale linking youth, friendship, and social unrest to the legacy of the Holocaust. Vivid, hopeful, and full of life.”— William Luvaas, author of The Seductions of Natalie Bach and Ashes Rain Down

“A witty, heartfelt story of friendship and hope. Barnehama explores war, civil rights, and the lasting trauma of the Shoah through a young boy seeking to repair the world.”— Heidi Slowinski, author of The House on Maple Street

Coming in 2026

How do we keep living when grief and history threaten to hold us in place?

Broken Hallelujah is a collection of interconnected stories about grief, resilience, and the family bonds. At its center is Ben, a New Yorker haunted by his older sister’s suicide, who seeks meaning and reinvention as he wrestles with loss, loneliness, and love. The stories capture the fragile beauty of human connection within the quiet grace hidden in everyday moments.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

• “Barnehama’s language is spare, lyrical, and exact. Each story is a tight coil of emotion and insight.”—Francine Witte, author of Radio Water

• “A collection of interwoven flash fiction that resonates like a mixtape assembled from cries of grief and chords of hope.”—Jacob M. Appel, author of The School of Anecdotal Medicine

• “Fits perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle-colorful, tightly woven, and psychologically realistic.”—Niles Reddick, author of Who’s Going to Pray for Me Now?

• “A stunning collection of interconnected stories that follow Ben as he navigates his way through loneliness in search of connection.”—Jeff Harvey, Editor, Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine

• “Ben is a character with whom every reader can associate. This is flash fiction at its best.”—Zvi A. Sesling, author of Secret Behind the Gate and Wheels

Elan Barnehama, editor

Nine women from around the globe unite to create this extraordinary international book project. They invite readers to walk a mile in their shoes and to explore the world through their eyes. Nine different cultures, different life experiences and trajectories, nine different stories revealing the obstacles that many people, and women in particular, face today. Each real-life story shows that, despite their various backgrounds, these women all have one thing in common: unexpected and oftentimes tough circumstances have taken them from one part of the world to another. This anthology presents the multifaceted issues of migration and relocation, the challenges these women encountered, as well as how they journeyed on in this life with humor and strength of spirit.

my story, SHOWING UP, about my lifelong group of friends

Friendships serve as a cornerstone to a rich life. Each of these twenty-four accomplished authors share authentic stories that consider the meaning of life affirming, sometimes life saving or gut wrenching, and fun realities of investing in each other: Think chicken soup with adult beverages. .

Finding Bluefield, 2012, chronicles the lives of Nicky and Barbara as they seek love and family during a time when relationships like theirs were mostly hidden and often dangerous. -- In process of being reissued.

WHAT OTHERS SAY:
These pages seek to do the dual work of detailing the difficulty of life at the margins, while highlighting how normal those unfairly relegated actually are. . .Finding Bluefield nonetheless makes affecting arguments for work toward a more just world. An agreeable and earnest novel which highlights the innate humanity of the families which society sometimes forgets to honor. --ForeWord Reviews

As a 1st book it is not only really good but above all different. I have liked the particular style, so different from the usual. The fact that the chapters where so long and that any of them have the attention put in one clear direction is interesting. This book is different and bold in a unique way. Rainbow Book Awards

"Novelist Elan Barnehama's latest book Finding Bluefield tells the story of lesbian love set amidst the politics of the 1960s." -- SheWired.com

"Virginia is for lesbian lovers in this 1960's period romance. A doctor from New York and a roadside diner waitress fall in love-- and make one of the cutest couples I've met all year. Their courtship involves jumping into a convertible, making love, eating pies... can I join them, please? They decide to start a family and have a baby. That's when one of their righteous southern family members tries to take their baby away so it doesn't grow up in an 'unfit household.' . . ." Susie Bright, The Bright List

"Can a male author fully convey the female exprience? Certainly the same was questioned of Wally Lamb when he penned the literary masterpiece She's Come Undone. Like Lamb, Barnehama takes many risks and - just by simply writing the novel - challenges the very audience he's writing for. By doing so, he is again reminding readers and critics alike that the sole purpose of a great writer is to tell the best story possible. In Finding Bluefield, Barnehama achieves this . ." David-Matthew Barnes, Lambda Literary Review

BOOKS

my story “Just Be,” Running Wild Anthology of Stories, Volume 2, Running Wild Press. March 2018.