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

Afghanistan Sky / U.S. Army

The Consequences of Violence

Steven Thomas Howell

More Essays and Interviews

Poetry

Splice

City of the Red Night: Burroughs poems by Alan Catlin

Alan Catlin

photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/uttecht

Remember When You Have A Son

Todd Clouser

More Poetry

Beat Generation

Big Sur - Jack Kerouac

Big Sur by Jack Kerouac

Eric D. Lehman

The Buddhist Beat Poetics of Diane di Prima and Lenore Kandel - Max Orsini

The Buddhist Beat Poetics of Diane di Prima and Lenore Kandel by Max Orsini, reviewed by Marc Olmsted

Marc Olmsted

29 Russell St., 1999, by Joshua Medsker

Neal and Carolyn Cassady’s house at 29 Russell St., San Francisco

Josh Medsker

Allen Ginsberg College Censorship - Pavan - Loretta Graceffo

Resisting the Thought Police: The Untold Story of Allen Ginsberg’s Stand Against College Censorship

Loretta Graceffo

More About the Beat Generation

Visual Art

Urban Beat (detail) by Mardi de Veuve Alexis

9 mixed-media pieces by Mardi de Veuve Alexis

Mardi de Veuve Alexis

rob lee poets photos

Beat Generation Photos by Rob Lee

Rob Lee

More Art

Essays

trail of the cedars / d.enck

Exposed by Patty Somlo

Patty Somlo

Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, oil on oak panels, 205.5 cm × 384.9 cm (81 in × 152 in), Museo del Prado, Madrid

The Garden of Earthly Delights

Brooke Knisley

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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