Empty Mirror

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Raskolnikov and the Peanut: Mirror Neurons & the Arcane Art of Writing – Jasun Horsley

Jasun Horsley

4 week-old neurons

“Don’t scorn the word: Poets, the world is noisy and silent, only God speaks.” —Antonio Machado Pornography, Shamanic Healing, & Language-Based Reality “Writing is a socially acceptable form … [Read more...]

Six steps to deal with literary rejections

Sweta Srivastava Vikram

dealing with rejections

Whether we like it or not, ever so often, like an unwelcome houseguest, rejections creep upon us. It doesn’t matter where you are in your writing career or the number of books you have published; … [Read more...]

Kerouac Before the Jazz: a review of “The Haunted Life”

Jim Cherry

The Haunted Life and Other Writings by Jack Kerouac

There are some great lost manuscripts in American literature and some are truly lost. Ernest Hemingway famously lost the only draft of the first short stories he ever wrote on a French train. Most … [Read more...]

Reflections of a Writer

Sweta Srivastava Vikram

In 2012, for NaNoWriMo, which is an annual (November) novel writing project that brings together professional and amateur writers from all over the world, I commenced work on my third novel. I … [Read more...]

Why multi-genre writing rocks!

Sweta Srivastava Vikram

Sweta Srivasta Vikram books

During the week of June 14-17, I was fortunate enough to win a scholarship to attend the Wesleyan Writers’ Conference. It is a program that offers the opportunity for people to meet fellow writers and … [Read more...]

How to write an excellent book review query

Empty Mirror

Skiing in Interzone - a fictitious book

So, your book is finished and you need to get the word out. You've found some book reviewers who you'd like to email. You're hoping they'll accept a copy of your book for possible review. But … [Read more...]

10 public speaking tips for writers

Tom Milton

Public Speaking for Writers

Writers often work in solitude. But when it's time to do a reading or a book signing, or to give a presentation or speech, you're no longer in your own environment, and the nerves can really kick in! … [Read more...]

The one thing an author should never, ever do.

Denise Enck

typewriter

I'm a reviewer. I hang out on message boards frequented by other reviewers. One popular topic on these message boards is that of authors who comment on reviews of their books. Almost all reviewers … [Read more...]

Authors Copyright and Permissions

Denise Enck and Empty Mirror

For some reason, Empty Mirror receives a fair amount of email from folks looking for contact information for particular writers. On occasion those searching for copyright permissions inquire as well. … [Read more...]

17 Syllables: The Death of Traditional Haiku

M.A. Barrett

Recently, I came across a poetry site touting the virtues of the winning work of a Haiku contest. The "Haiku" in question was an ode to the writer's car. Something small but vitally important died … [Read more...]

Constrained Writing Techniques

Josh Medsker

black maze on yellow background

Constrained writing can produce some unexpected results. In my recent experimenting with language and poetry, I remembered some of the Surrealist/Dadaist techniques I’d learned in my youth and added a … [Read more...]

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R.I.P. Michael McClure 1932-2020

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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Recent features

  • My Father’s Map
  • On Waiting
  • Seeing Las Meninas in Madrid, 1994
  • Visual poems from 23 Bodhisattvas by Chris Stephenson
  • Historical Punctum: Reading Natasha Trethewey’s Bellocq’s Ophelia and Native Guard Through the Lens of Roland Barthes’s Camera Lucida
  • Panic In The Rear-View Mirror: Exploring The Work of Richard Siken and Ann Gale
  • “Art has side effects,” I said.

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