Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alexander Shalom Joseph. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alexander, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?
I was paying $300 a month to live in an attic in Bellingham, Washington and could not for the life of me find a job. This was right after college, about a year into me discovering writing as a focal point of my life. I would look for jobs: part time dish washing jobs, car lot attendant jobs, construction jobs but I never got a single one. So I spent most days walking down beside the bay, pausing to write poems into a little yellow notebook I kept in my pocket and to jot down notes for what would become my first novel. In time, as I still could get no job and my savings were waning, I began to live mostly off oatmeal and type the day away in my attic. If I could just finish the novel then things would work out. If I could just finish it, I was sure it would be well received, published, get me money and fame and whatever else I wanted.
I finally finished the novel. I used some of my quickly vanishing savings to print three copies out, one for myself, two for my roommates. They could not have cared less about the novel. I was shocked at their indifference and the subsequent indifference of the publishers and contests and agents who rejected the manuscript over the next year. It felt like a crisis and frankly it was, a crisis of purpose. I had to revaluate why I was writing, what I was writing for, who I was writing for. I thought once I had a book out, that it would take the world by storm but that is not how it went. I had to realize that the writing is for me, to connect with something greater than myself, to have a craft to work on, to have a reason to be alive. Of course I want to publish, of course I want readers but the first focus cannot be that. The point has to be the creation and then everything that comes after that is secondary.
I am not sure if the above answers the question as clearly as I wanted it to so I’ll concise it down here. The unexpected problem I found in my craft was the indifference of others, the rejections and the decades it takes, if it happens at all, to make it. I resolved it by redefining what my craft was about and who it was for and focused on that and then the rest followed.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Alexander Shalom Joseph. I am the author of five published books: the novella “the last of the light” (Orison, 2024), the poetry manuscripts “broken light in a burning wood” (Middle Creek Publishing, 2023), “our mother, the mountain” (Middle Creek Publishing, 2022), and the chapbook “buttons and bones” (above/ground press, 2020), as well as the short story collection “American Wasteland” (Owl Canyon Press, 2021). I have an MFA in Creative Writing from The Jack Kerouac School and an MA in English Education. I have two books slotted for release in 2025.
My poetry is contemporary nature writing from the American West in the time of climate change and catastrophic forest fires, and my fiction deals with the mundane and the magical and how through writing characters into these situations, we can find deep humanity, connectivity and universality. I live in Colorado, work construction full time, and teach a monthly writing workshop at two maximum security prisons in Denver.
I have a substack at alexandershalomjoseph.substack.com. Through this substack I send out a weekly poem, process notes and writing prompts. I also post a weekly poetry video on my instagram @alexandershalomjoseph
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding part of being a writer is being able to have a craft to work on. While it is a struggle to face rejection, having a daily practice where I have the opportunity to work on my craft is so sacred because it gives me a greater meaning in my life.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
The book “Dancing with the Gods” by Kent Nerburn was very impactful for me. He was a great elder and mentor to me through this book. He reminded me of the sacred nature of being an artist and how the point is the art making and nothing else.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://alexandershalomjoseph.com
- Instagram: @alexandershalomjoseph
- Other: https://alexandershalojoseph.substack.com