Empty Mirror

a literary magazine

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Empty Mirror 25th Anniversary

Empty Mirror celebrated its 25th anniversary on May 31, 2025! While we are currently on hiatus, we invite you to enjoy a quarter century of writing and art in our archives.

Click to read any of the pieces featured below, read more from the category, or refresh the page for a fresh selection!

On Literature

Faust (detail) - public domain

The Necessity of Tragedy—How What Goethe Played with is Still Entirely Relevant

Marina Manoukian

Walt Whitman - Leaves of Grass silence

“Only the Lull I Like”: Walt Whitman’s Image of Silence

Andrew Field

More Essays and Interviews

Poetry

nest / credit: d.raphael

Back Principles: Poems by Stephen Bett

Stephen Bett

trailing / credit: de

Three poems by Taylor Byas

Taylor Byas

More Poetry

Beat Generation

Iron Curtain Journals by Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg’s Iron Curtain Journals, reviewed by Marc Olmsted

Marc Olmsted

The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac

The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, reviewed by Eric D. Lehman

Eric D. Lehman

Ted Joans Lives! Tribute (2)

Empty Mirror

rob lee poets photos

Beat Generation Photos by Rob Lee

Rob Lee

More About the Beat Generation

Visual Art

Kombination 3 (detail) by Kon Markogiannis

Kombinations: Four collages by Kon Markogiannis

Kon Markogiannis

Jason Stoneking - Death to the Rebirth

Death to the Rebirth!

Jason Stoneking

More Art

Essays

The moon over Aaqrabâte, Syria / photo by Samer Daboul

Chasing the Moon

Sarah Zanabli

Alison Winfield-Burns memoir

(Part VI) Alison Winfield-Burns memoir

Alison Winfield Burns

More Essays

The EM newsletter

Receive fresh poetry, reviews, essays, art, and literary news every Wednesday!

Empty Mirror

Established in 2000 and edited by Denise Enck, Empty Mirror is an online literary magazine that publishes new work each Friday.

Each week EM features several poems each by one or two poets; reviews; critical essays; visual art; and personal essays.

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