Brian Hugenbruch
@the-lettersea.com
Speculative fiction author | Rhysling and Pushcart nominated poet | Cryptographer by day | No, I don’t know how to pronounce it either. https://the-lettersea.com
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a poet in want of an idea will eventually write a poem about their cat. This is mine. (About our late cat, not one of the two new lunatic kittens.) Live now at 4LPH4NUM3R1C 2.0 from @zoeticpress.bsky.social: Enjoy!
AN 27 Blythe Spirits — Zoetic Press
zoeticpress.com
I excavated sufficient executive function from somewhere in the depths of my brain to be the 64th backer on @BackerKit Crowdfunding for [RECORDED] — An Anthology of Found Media Fiction!! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/m...
[RECORDED] — An Anthology of Found Media Fiction!
Weird videos you didn't take showing up on your phone... Haunted books no one else remembers reading... Strange audio cassettes that won't let you stop listening... [RECORDED] showcases weird, spooky,...
backerkit.com
Next time you're feeling ennui, pick up "a moment on the lips" by Brian Hugenbruch and remind yourself of the giddy delight that comes from devouring the world:
A moment on the lips - Small Wonders
My irises open like an infant’s gaping maw / as I smash this over-ripened world / into my face
smallwondersmag.com
New blog post: "New Story Day, and Catching Up." Whereupon the wayward author realizes he has a pile of announcements to make that he should have been doing all this time.
New Story Day, and Catching Up
It would appear the first chunk of the year got away from me (again). I've learned to accept that January through April get a bit silly for me, schedule-wise. But it's not like that's advertised here. So for those who were wondering: I'm okay, I'm still here, and I bring word of words. Biggest news: "Camino Mundo" is part of the May/June 2026 issue of…
the-lettersea.com
--this is me: I'm "and more!" My story "Camino Mundo," is buried somewhere in that nebula; it's a mash-up of hard sci-fi and western, told from the perspective of someone who's worked hard and is ready to pass the torch along. I'd have started advertising it sooner, but, y'know: work.
Analog Science Fiction and Fact@analogsf.bsky.social · 6mo agoOur May/June issue is on sale now! Grab a copy for the latest from Jay Werkheiser, Eric Del Carlo, Thoraiya Dyer, and more. We're also thrilled to publish the fiction debut of frequent fact-article contributor Kevin Walsh. Don't miss it!
Sweet merciless iambs, drawing you into the gaping maw of some stellar beast… I may or may not have been hangry when I wrote this. 🤔
Kaleidotrope@kaleidotrope.bsky.social · 6mo agoFor those of you who like your cosmic horror truly cosmic, please enjoy @the-lettersea.com's eldritch sci-fi poem "Face to face." kaleidotrope.net/winter-2026/...
Serious question for @colbertlateshow.bsky.social about the new #LOTR movie: will it feature the Fox? And if so… will it be a Fox + Bill the Pony buddy comedy where they solve crimes in Bree? #badboysforlife
No need to bug me — I’ve come prepared. Image of the poem (through award season only) can be found at: the-lettersea.com/wp-content/u... (And thank you @deborahldavitt.com!)
Deborah L. Davitt, Author@deborahldavitt.bsky.social · 8mo agoThe incomparable Gerri Leen with “The Separation Was Not Mutual,” available at Penumbric. www.penumbric.com/archives/Oct... @the-lettersea.com Hugenbruch, “On the mourning of future history,” a crackling, wonderful villanelle! Star*Line Issue 48.3 (bug him for a copy!)
And finally, on the 12th day of #12DaysOfPoetry, I offer a poem from my chapbook, Whiles Changing Lanes, which came out last year from Bottlecap Press. "Riddles of the wind" is a bleak and unsparing free verse poem (even moreso than "Homecoming" was), but sometimes we find variation in greys.
Brian Hugenbruch@the-lettersea.com · 9mo agoI missed the 11th day of the #12DaysOfPoetry, because Reasons. So let's make up for lost time. "Homecoming" appeared in @analogsf.bsky.social last year, and it was on their poetry page for a while. Now it's gone. Which is on-theme for the poem, honestly.
I missed the 11th day of the #12DaysOfPoetry, because Reasons. So let's make up for lost time. "Homecoming" appeared in @analogsf.bsky.social last year, and it was on their poetry page for a while. Now it's gone. Which is on-theme for the poem, honestly.
Brian Hugenbruch@the-lettersea.com · 9mo agoOn the 10th day of #12DaysOfPoetry, I return to “wind through a long-forgotten outpost,” published by @penumbricmag.bsky.social in 2023, and demand of the world a day for when it’s neither pertinent nor applicable.
On the 10th day of #12DaysOfPoetry, I return to “wind through a long-forgotten outpost,” published by @penumbricmag.bsky.social in 2023, and demand of the world a day for when it’s neither pertinent nor applicable.
Penumbric October 2k23, Wind through a long-forgotten outpost
Edgy speculative fiction magazine
penumbric.com
Brian Hugenbruch@the-lettersea.com · 9mo agoOn the 9th day of #12DaysOfPoetry, I’m sharing my second of three favorites from 2025. @bfbzine.bsky.social picked up this blank-verse rumination on AI and the soul of art, and now I’m happy again to share it — “Citation may be required.”
For those curious! My eligible poems are listed on my website in a few places. My personal favorites were: * “Homecoming” (Analog) * “Citation may be required” (Baubles from Bones) * “Fire in the blood” (SpecPoVerse) …and “Riddles of the wind” from my chapbook.
2025 Awards Post and End of Year News
We’re here at the end of a long and brutish sort of year, and we had more funerals than I had story publications this year. (I wish that were hyperbole.) But as much effort as it consumes, it…
the-lettersea.com
SF & F Poetry Assn@sfpoetry.bsky.social · 9mo agoAll right poetry pals, it's January 1, which means that Rhysling Award Nominations are now open! Check your SFPA Missive for details and nominations links. And in the meantime, get to re-reading your fav 2025 poems 💖
On the 9th day of #12DaysOfPoetry, I’m sharing my second of three favorites from 2025. @bfbzine.bsky.social picked up this blank-verse rumination on AI and the soul of art, and now I’m happy again to share it — “Citation may be required.”
"Citation May Be Required" by Brian Hugenbruch
An AI society searches for harmony in the echoes of a church. By Brian Hugenbruch. Featured in Baubles From Bones: Issue 6.
baublesfrombones.com
Brian Hugenbruch@the-lettersea.com · 9mo agoDay 8 of the #12DaysOfPoetry is a new year, a new poem day, and a new issue of @kaleidotrope.bsky.social! This is “Face to face” — because why not start off the new year with eldritch SF horror?
Day 8 of the #12DaysOfPoetry is a new year, a new poem day, and a new issue of @kaleidotrope.bsky.social! This is “Face to face” — because why not start off the new year with eldritch SF horror?
“Face to face” by Brian Hugenbruch
kaleidotrope.net
Brian Hugenbruch@the-lettersea.com · 9mo agoIt’s Day 7 of #12DaysOfPoetry, and the last day of a brutish year. So today’s poem acknowledges your travails (past and future). This is “Look Again,” from @kaleidotrope.bsky.social’s Winter 2023 issue.
It’s Day 7 of #12DaysOfPoetry, and the last day of a brutish year. So today’s poem acknowledges your travails (past and future). This is “Look Again,” from @kaleidotrope.bsky.social’s Winter 2023 issue.
“Look Again” by Brian Hugenbruch
kaleidotrope.net
Brian Hugenbruch@the-lettersea.com · 9mo agoDay 6 of #12DaysOfPoetry coincides with New Hearing Device day for me. To that end, I offer “Worlds I Didn’t Hear,” which bowed last year at @strangehorizons.bsky.social. There’s probably a whole collection here somewhere. 🤔
With Day 6 of #12DaysOfPoetry, we move on to my 2025 publications! First up is the meditative tale of "Hermit of the Crossroads" in @havenspec.bsky.social, with an anchorite whose presence protects the realm: www.havenspec.com/hermit-of-th...
Hermit of the Crossroads by Marie Brennan, Haven Spec Magazine
Fiction and Poetry for the 21st Century!
havenspec.com
Day 6 of #12DaysOfPoetry coincides with New Hearing Device day for me. To that end, I offer “Worlds I Didn’t Hear,” which bowed last year at @strangehorizons.bsky.social. There’s probably a whole collection here somewhere. 🤔
Worlds I Didn't Hear
I did not hear the sky crack open
strangehorizons.com
Brian Hugenbruch@the-lettersea.com · 9mo agoFor Day 5 of #12DaysOfPoetry, we exchange fire for ice! Not because I nearly broke my neck walking the dog this morning (or not *just* because of that); we also moving from free to blank verse (iambs). @sfpoetry.bsky.social's Eye to the Telescope published the crystalline "Under the Skin" in 2021:
I’ve just been bashed in the head by my garbage bins and a windy day. There’s a lot of blood. If this is how I go, I call dibs on regenerating into Sylvester McCoy.
For Day 5 of #12DaysOfPoetry, we exchange fire for ice! Not because I nearly broke my neck walking the dog this morning (or not *just* because of that); we also moving from free to blank verse (iambs). @sfpoetry.bsky.social's Eye to the Telescope published the crystalline "Under the Skin" in 2021:
Eye to the Telescope
Eye to the Telescope, the quarterly online journal of SFPA, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association, an international organization of speculative poets.
eyetothetelescope.com
Brian Hugenbruch@the-lettersea.com · 9mo agoFor Day 4 of the #12DaysOfPoetry, I'm pulling one of my three favorites from 2025. "Fire in the Blood" 🔥 is available in Issue 1.2 of SpecPoVerse (Pages 36-37). It was written on the 10th anniversary of the passing of someone who departed far too early. Sometimes unfinished stories leave a wake. 🐉
2025 Round-Up and Awards Eligibility for #Poetry: nine (9) short poems, and one chapbook that, at 40 pages, straddles the line between chap and full-length.
For Day 4 of the #12DaysOfPoetry, I'm pulling one of my three favorites from 2025. "Fire in the Blood" 🔥 is available in Issue 1.2 of SpecPoVerse (Pages 36-37). It was written on the 10th anniversary of the passing of someone who departed far too early. Sometimes unfinished stories leave a wake. 🐉
SpecPoVerse | PDF to Flipbook
An International Journal of Speculative Poetry. PDF to flipbook converted using heyzine.com
heyzine.com
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Jordan Kurella@jordankurella.com · 9mo agopost a perfect album from the 90's that isn't nirvana, soundgarden, pearl jam, or alice in chains
Day 3 of the #12DaysOfPoetry seems like it needs a bit of a pick-me-up, so I'm pulling out a golden shovel from 2021 that's nominally about coffee. ...or is it? If you wander over to Abyss & Apex, you'll find "That is not what I meant at all."
That is not what I meant at all | Abyss & Apex
abyssapexzine.com
For Day 2 of the #12DaysOfPoetry, we move to free verse, light of touch, and a poem that presaged a lot of what I put in my chapbook. This is "droplets," from the October 2021 @penumbricmag.bsky.social:
Penumbric October 2k21, Droplets
Edgy speculative fiction magazine
penumbric.com
I love @swantower.bsky.social’s idea of the #12DaysOfPoetry, so for Day 1, please enjoy a time-traveling villanelle from @havenspec.bsky.social — “For the attention of my future self” (And Happy Holidays from my present self!)
For the attention of my future self by Brian Hugenbruch, Haven Spec Magazine
Fiction and Poetry for the 21st Century!
havenspec.com
Beaming this morning because a poet I really admire, @writerjencrow.bsky.social, wrote a glowing review of ‘While Changing Lanes’ on her Patreon.
Review post: While Changing Lanes by Brian Hugenbruch | Poetry from a Crow
Get more from Poetry from a Crow on Patreon
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