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

Bukowski letter to Robert Bly. Joshua Preston

“Said God, Scratching His Naked Belly in a Kitchen”: Charles Bukowski to Robert Bly

Joshua Preston

Wordworth & Kerouac

Wordsworth and the Beats: The Longevity of Influence

William R. Soldan

More Essays and Interviews

Poetry

downstairs

Three pieces for Beat poets

Jillian Moreno

6 poems by Michael Begnal

Michael S. Begnal

More Poetry

Beat Generation

ted joans photo by larry keenan (lo res)

Ted Joans Lives! Tribute: Keith Scotcher and Larry Keenan

Empty Mirror

Burning Furiously Beautiful: The True Story of Jack Kerouac's On the Road

Excerpt from Burning Furiously Beautiful: The True Story of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road

Paul Maher Jr.

Barry Miles - Beat Hotel

Book Review – The Beat Hotel by Barry Miles

Hammond Guthrie

Tristessa by Jack Kerouac, book cover

Book Review — Tristessa by Jack Kerouac

Eric D. Lehman

More About the Beat Generation

Visual Art

oblivion 1 (detail) - visual poetry by hiromi suzuki

Oblivion — visual poetry by hiromi suzuki

hiromi suzuki

Patient Clouds - BIll Wolak

Collages by Bill Wolak

Bill Wolak

More Art

Essays

Dearly Beloved, Part II: Growing up in Bohemian 1950s San Francisco

Nanette Jordan

Sara Coleridge

My Coleridge: On Five Poems by Sara Coleridge

Stephanie Limb

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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