The Brussels Review
@thebrusselsreview.bsky.social
Collected Works in Contemporary Prose and Art https://thebrusselsreview.com https://thebrusselsreview.com/submissions https://shop.thebrusselsreview.com #TBR #poetry #fiction #nonfiction #art #photography
Set in Northern Thailand, this immersive narrative explores a young traveler’s descent into Muay Thai training, where through violence and the discipline of repetition, a bruised body and restless mind find unexpected clarity. #TBR #Thailand #MuayThai thebrusselsreview.com/micaela-edel...
Unleashing Rage By Micaela Edelson
A raw journey through Muay Thai, rage, and fleeting healing in Northern Thailand—where violence becomes both discipline and catharsis.
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First episode of Call to the Editor We speak with Ximena Maldonado Sánchez, a Mexican artist whose desert-inspired landscapes burn with memory and heat. From Brussels to Athens, her work resists easy reading—it watches you back. #calltotheeditor #art #ximenamaldonadosánchez #mexicanart #brussels
Ximena Maldonado Sánchez
Call to the editor · Episode
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Two poems trace the quiet collision of inner and outer worlds: one through the sensory hush of a child's late-summer retreat, the other through the philosophical pull of erasure and ancient language. #poetry #childhood #nature #memory #TBR thebrusselsreview.com/daniel-sofae...
Uprooting Cubit By Daniel Sofaer
A tender meditation on memory, wilderness, and estrangement, where childhood longing and ancient language entwine.
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Through a cascading series of lyrical inversions, Never too Late explores the mutable borders between sorrow and strength, fear and awakening, memory and rebirth. #TBR #poetry #resilience #spirituality #transformation thebrusselsreview.com/ramzi-albert...
Never Too Late By Ramzi Albert Rihani
When fear stretches itself and awakens our strength / When noise stretches itself, and you start listening / and the beast stretches itself to become human / It is never too late to remember, wish, an...
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#Ximena_Maldonado_Sánchez’s landscapes are not depictions but emanations—deserts that remember heat, speak in glare, and shimmer with chemical memory. Hallucinogenic and radioactive. #TBR #painting #contemporaryart #LatinAmericanart #landscape thebrusselsreview.com/dritan-kici/...
The Paintings Of Ximena Maldonado Sánchez. Hot! By Dritan Kiçi
The desert in Ximena Maldonado Sánchez’s paintings is not a place but a pulsing, radioactive body remembering heat, exile, and hallucination.
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In this sharp and uncanny parable of the afterlife, a man’s casual dismissal of medical advice turns metaphysical when he dies of a heart attack—and wakes to a cosmic guide cloaked in familiar forms. #fiction #magicalrealism #afterlife #workingclass #TBR thebrusselsreview.com/jonathan-d-s...
A Grain Of Salt By Jonathan D. Scott
“You’ve just come from hell, Frankie. Only you’re not Frankie anymore.”
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A quiet witness behind glass, the speaker captures a world of both tenderness and brutality. #TBR #poetry #urbanlife #existentialism #observationaldrawing thebrusselsreview.com/ifunanya-geo...
Spectator By Ifunanya Georgia Ezeano
A quiet observer at a window reflects on the disarray, tenderness, and violence of everyday life—torn between distance and immersion.
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TBR Dark, edited by Femke van Son, gathers literary fiction that veers into the uncanny and speculative. These stories explore fractured identity, mechanized memory, and psychological rupture. #TBR #literaryfiction #speculativefiction #TBRDarkhttps://thebrusselsreview.com/admin/introducing-tbr-dark
Introducing TBR Dark By The Brussels Review
What binds these stories together is not genre, but mood: an atmosphere of hesitation, rupture, and epistemological drift... They ask what remains of the human when its constructs—identity, memory, ev...
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#HopeJoseph writes against extinction—of butterflies, of soil, of fireflies, of youth itself. Rooted in the textures of #Ekiti, this lyrical essay gathers records of life before they fade. #TBR #essays #nostalgia #climatechange #Nigeria #Memory thebrusselsreview.com/hope-joseph/...
Read And Be Young Again By Hope Joseph
“I want a portal I can walk through to a place where people aren't permitted to visit twice: youth. I want my parent's laughter crackling through my ears half a century from now as fresh and alive.”
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If writing a standard bio feels awkward and you crave some poetry in it, write it in the first person. Speaking of yourself in the third person makes you sound like Trump. #bio #writingabio
Ghayath Almadhoun’s I Have Brought You a Severed Hand is a searing poetic indictment of war, exile, and complicity. @dritankici.bsky.social #TBR #poetry #translation #Syria #Europe thebrusselsreview.com/dritan-kici/...
Ghayath Almadhoun: Europe, We Love Your Art And Hate Your Bombs By Dritan Kiçi
A furious, unrelenting poetry of rupture—Almadhoun’s verses indict, mourn, and resist with devastating force.
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📢 Writers: A non-temporary bio is not a promo. ✅ Name, origin, languages, profession, education, major publications. 🚫 No blurbs, no “explores identity,” no “my latest book…” Keep it timeless. Think passport, not pitch.
Atomic legacy meets personal reckoning in a collection that speaks through pain, memory, and the quiet defiance of survival. #TBR #poetry #war #Oppenheimer #redemption #motherhood Cover art by Mia Felić thebrusselsreview.com/colleen-s-ha...
Ash Psalms By Colleen S. Harris
Power is not in melted Buicks, not in making angels cower and sing your name in fear. There is no godhood for you, who have only sealed your name in dust.
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Televised absurdity, Eurovision is revealed as both camp spectacle and geopolitical masquerade. From Australia's "migrating" to Europe to the politics of absence. Hills are... Was that a man? #TBR #essays #Eurovision #popculture #geopolitics #satire thebrusselsreview.com/dritan-kici/...
Eurovision: Where Nations Compete For The Right To Be Confused By Dritan Kiçi
Eurovision is what happens when musical theater and international diplomacy get drunk at the same wedding—messy, performative, and dazzlingly absurd.
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What makes a story unforgettable? Our editor articulates a triadic framework that dissects the anatomy of enduring narratives and elements that grant stories their lasting power. #TBR #storytelling #narrativetheory #literarycriticism @dritankici.bsky.social thebrusselsreview.com/dritan-kici/...
The Three Xs Of A Great Story: Extraordinary, Exclusive, Extendable By Dritan Kiçi
Three Xs Framework—Extraordinary, Exclusive, and Extendable. A practical method for evaluating why some stories endure in cultural memory, while others, no matter how lyrical, fade fast.
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In this gently obsessive, unsparing account of near-meetings with Paul and Ringo, Szabolcs Benedek explores the ecstasy of fandom and the quiet grief of distance. Translated from Hungarian by Dóra Emma Esze. #music #TheBeatles #Vienna #TBR thebrusselsreview.com/szabolcs-ben...
Day Tripper By Szabolcs Benedek
A tender, obsessive tribute to Paul McCartney, masculinity, and the fragile distance between idol and admirer.
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n The Only Summer and My Shell, the poet offers a quiet disassembly of beauty, longing, and self-deception. These pieces unfold with lyrical restraint, questioning meaning as artifice and love as undoing. #Poetry #Writing #TBR thebrusselsreview.com/zilin-wu/sum...
Summer By Zilin Wu
A lyrical meditation on impermanence, illusion, and the quiet violence of longing—between self, love, and the aching shell of beauty.
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The failure of the Green Transition is not logistical or political, but linguistic. By framing climate action in the language of disruption—transition, sacrifice, loss—we’ve seeded public resistance. @dritankici.bsky.social #ClimateChange #greentransition #EU thebrusselsreview.com/dritan-kici/...
Why The Green Transition Is Already Lost By Dritan Kiçi
A searing critique of the Green Transition's failure—not in policy, but in metaphor, language, and imagination.
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From glacial tea rooms to cicada-split heat, traverse the southern terrain of Tasmania in vivid, sensory layers, through memory and dreams. Cover art by #SantaZukker #Poetry #Nature #Writing #Tasmania #TBR thebrusselsreview.com/ben-walter/w...
Wandering By Ben Walter
An elemental cycle of weather, memory, and dream—these poems trace Tasmania’s winter and summer in stark, sensory incantations.
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From the Siege of Yorktown to the halls of Congress, an Unknown Soldier chronicles the haunting continuum of American warfare. How many more final battles can there be? #Literature #History #Writing #Democracy #Veterans #TBR thebrusselsreview.com/william-h-sw...
The Unknown Soldier - 1781 By William H Swartz
An Unknown Soldier of 1781 bears witness to the brutal legacy of American wars, from Yorktown to January 6th, tracing the fragile arc of democracy.
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David Newkirk reflects on the quiet strength and deep beauty of introversion, honoring the unseen worlds that shape thoughtful lives. Cover by Kathy Bruce, Beauty, collage, private collection #TBR #Essays #Writing #Psychology #Literature thebrusselsreview.com/david-newkir...
Quiet Lives By David G. Newkirk
A moving reflection on the quiet strength, beauty, and misunderstood reality of introversion in a world shaped by extroversion.
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A luminous meditation on intimacy and the quiet revelations of morning light. "Together" captures the tender nearness between bodies, the sacredness of presence, and the almost-miraculous grace found in simple gestures. #Poetry #Literature #Writing #Reading #TBR thebrusselsreview.com/kevin-macala...
Together By Kevin MacAlan
A tender morning vision captures love, longing, and the fragile beauty of shared intimacy.
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Christopher Kenneally documents the slow erasure of rural Breton life with care and clarity. A stunning tribute to local resistance, cultural identity, and small communities caught in global tides. #France #BretonLife #EUImpact #Rurallife #TBR thebrusselsreview.com/christopher-...
Brittany, 1991: Watching The Old World Fade By Christopher Kenneally
An American expatriate in 1991 Brittany captures the twilight of rural traditions under a Europe in flux—tender, wry, and hauntingly beautiful.
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A messy, furious, feminist howl against generational gaslighting, trauma buried under kitsch, and the lie of “he didn’t mean it.” Happy, Texas digs deep and doesn’t flinch. #TBR #SurvivorVoice #SystemicAbuse #QueerNarrative #PopArtPain #bartplantenga thebrusselsreview.com/bart-planten...
Happy Texas: The Town Without A Frown By Bart Plantenga
This is America, raw and unfiltered: a toxic love story unfolds against roadside relics, familial ghosts, and a broken dream of connection. A dark, lyrical masterpiece for those willing to stare into ...
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The Game confronts the horror of living in systems that exploit trauma, twist identity, and commodify desire. A harrowing take on psychological captivity. #DismantleTheSystem #MentalHealthMatters #TBR thebrusselsreview.com/jeff-l-olive...
The Game By Jeff L Oliver
A descent into psychological torment, The Game traps the narrator in a nightmare of temptation, manipulation, and self-destruction.
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Mostafa Taleb’s About That Magic Circle transcends genre—it’s a sonic meditation on unity, rooted in mystic Persian poetry and reimagined with a global ensemble. Music as soulcraft, music as justice. #TBR #PersianClassical @patricktenbrink.bsky.social thebrusselsreview.com/patrick-ten-...
About That Magic Circle By Patrick Ten Brink
“In these times, where the world order seems to be heading toward chaos and confusion, where hate is infecting language, it is all the more important to listen to music that is a fusion of instruments...
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This editorial by @dritankici.bsky.social lays out a vision for essays that challenge, question, and engage—especially on gender, politics, history, and more. A thoughtful reminder of why nonfiction matters. #TBR #EssayWriting thebrusselsreview.com/dritan-kici/...
On The Essay I Want To Read By Dritan Kiçi
"Essays aren’t lectures. They’re conversations with dead philosophers and living doubts. You’re not leading the reader out of Plato’s cave—you’re sitting beside them, throwing shadows on the wall, won...
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“Too Soon” speaks to the violence of beauty standards and the silent grief women carry in the face of time. We deserve better than this fleeting currency. #TBR #Poetry #Aging #BodyImage thebrusselsreview.com/frank-c-modi...
Too Soon By Frank C. Modica
Bereft after my trek, I go home / look at a mirror, examine / all the blemishes, wrinkles / age-ravaged markers on my skin...
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This critique unpacks how first-person writing often centers privilege, avoids empathy, and mimics the individualism of capitalist culture. It’s time to deconstruct the “I.” #TBR #NarrativeJustice #DecenterTheSelf thebrusselsreview.com/dritan-kici/...
The First Person: Voice Of The Inexperienced And The Narcissist By Dritan Kiçi
“The self becomes the measure of the universe, to the detriment of literary depth… Literature ceases to be a vessel for empathy and becomes a stage for self-confirmation.”
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A border-crossing poem about resisting safety narratives and pursuing art. What does it mean to abandon the “sensible” path? This piece speaks for those who refuse to stay home. #poetry #illusions #resistance #TBR thebrusselsreview.com/l-lois/a-lit...
A Little Birdie Told Me By L. Lois
"New York City arms / around the girl and her dreams / opening poems and poets / walking and sweating / flitting around salsa / on Pier 45 at dusk"
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