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

IF by Rudyard Kipling

The Middle Word in Life: Dennis Hopper and Rudyard Kipling’s “If”

Stephen Lee Naish

Exit West: a novel by Mohsin Hamid

Freedom in the Physical and Digital City: Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West

Ben Berman Ghan

More Essays and Interviews

Poetry

3 poems by Ndubisi Otolokpo

Ndubisi Otolokpo

any day america

America – a poem by A.D. Winans

A.D. Winans

More Poetry

Beat Generation

On the Road movie poster

The Official Kerouac “On the Road” Movie Trailer is Here!

Denise Enck

The Haunted Life and Other Writings by Jack Kerouac

Paul Maher Jr. considers Kerouac’s Haunted Life

Paul Maher Jr.

Bowles & I

Vast Regions from Nowhere: Paul Bowles, Unfathered Authors, Mother-Bonded Sons

Jasun Horsley

beat beat beat

The Beat Generation vs. “Beatniks”

Denise Enck

More About the Beat Generation

Visual Art

Giinnie Gardiner - Aerial (detail)

The Enfolded: Collage Paintings by Ginnie Gardiner

Ginnie Gardiner

donna kuhn art (detail)

Six Mixed Media Pieces by Donna Kuhn

Donna Kuhn

More Art

Essays

Lexington Avenue by Jeffrey Zeldman

Lexington Avenue

Buku Sarkar

Threshold_2 (detail) Tara K Shepersky

Conversations at Thresholds: a Contemplative Offering

Tara K. Shepersky

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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