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...

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

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...

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...

#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/...

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 quiet witness behind glass, the speaker captures a world of both tenderness and brutality. #TBR #poetry #urbanlife #existentialism #observationaldrawing thebrusselsreview.com/ifunanya-geo...

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

#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/...

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/...

📢 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...

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/...

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/...

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...

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...

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/...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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-...

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...

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...

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-...

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/...

“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...

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/...

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 rain poem that doesn’t romanticize but radicalizes—revealing how emotional avoidance is structured into daily life. Let’s talk about the emotional labor we dodge. #TBR #Poetry #EmotionalVisibility #PetrichorVoices thebrusselsreview.com/gerry-stewar...

These twin poems reflect the quiet revolutions of girlhood and the silent reckonings of age. A call to risk joy, defy fear, and not waste our only sunlit days. #TBR #poetry #aging #parenting thebrusselsreview.com/william-j-gl...

What if your grief was annotated, academic, and ignored? This poem unearths the quiet ache of being unread, unacknowledged, and unheard. An ode to every isolated soul. On the cover: Donna Vitucci, Ophelia, acrylic on mixed media #TBR #Poetry #Loneliness thebrusselsreview.com/constanza-de...

A brilliant interrogation of cultural norms, this piece moves from formal etiquette to junkyard grit, exposing how social "rules" often obscure power, class, and survival. #Etiquette #TBR On the cover: Light – Reflection, Lis Anna-Langston, private collection thebrusselsreview.com/stephen-bari...

Not all art deserves the spotlight. This provocative essay dismantles the fantasy of creative equity and defends AI as a valid artistic tool. #TBR #ArtJustice #CreativeLabor #AIEthics #EvolveOrFade thebrusselsreview.com/dritan-kici/...

These poems speak in the language of inherited wounds and winged resistance. Memory, womanhood, and flight—threaded through grief. A quiet anthem for those who carry too much. #TBR #poetry #feminism #intergenerationalhealing #griefandjoy thebrusselsreview.com/nisha/scars-...

Radical tenderness meets mythic collapse: a vivid cycle of psalms where birds, strangers, and grieving daughters all seek rest. Fierce, beautiful, and just. #TBR #SocialJustice #Poetry #Care thebrusselsreview.com/connie-johns...

A vital call for literary transparency: stop hiding behind mystique and start participating in the world your work seeks to reach. Visibility is not vanity—it's survival. #TBR #WriterSupport #LiteraryEquity #socialengagement #submissions thebrusselsreview.com/dritan-kici/...

Crafted by necessity, held together by tenderness. Paper houses speaks to the overlooked struggles of transient families making shelter out of nothing. #TBR #mother #survival #displacement thebrusselsreview.com/jacqueline-s...

These aren’t just songs. They’re survival anthems for the brokenhearted and the dreamers cast aside. Michele Herman gives Brel’s voice to all who’ve ever drifted or clung to each other in the dark. #TBR #JacquesBrel #Poetry #Translation #EmotionalTruth thebrusselsreview.com/jacques-brel...

Ghost at the Edge of the City centers the voiceless, the medicated, and the disappeared. It’s a surreal elegy to those society forgets, and a gut-punch to psychiatric systems that confuse control with care. #NeurodivergentVoices #SystemicInjustice #TBR thebrusselsreview.com/james-penzav...

“We all read and are inspired — some with books, others with porn. It doesn’t make us special.” This is a blistering critique of the pretentious writer bio; a call to show up as a real human, not a clout-chaser. #TBR #LiteraryCulture #BioWriting #dritankici thebrusselsreview.com/dritan-kici/...

This editorial rant rips into the empty aesthetics of “safe” poetry. It demands work that risks, bleeds, exposes. For poets who don’t tidy their truths. #TBR #PoetryAsResistance #NoMoreNicePoems #AuthenticityFirst thebrusselsreview.com?p=4172

This poem whispers what many scream: grief isn’t always loud. “Absence Music” explores how emotional silence haunts creativity in a world tuned to noise. #TBR #Poetry #Grief #ArtAndLoss thebrusselsreview.com/ace-boggess/...

Get TBR Spring 25 in our shop or everywhere you buy books. #TBR #fiction #poetry #nonfiction shop.thebrusselsreview.com/products/tbr...

Between the trees, between the past and the future, between love and loss—"Up Fish Creek" is a moving meditation on identity, connection, and the quiet places where hearts make their hardest choices. #QueerStories #EmotionalDepth #TBR thebrusselsreview.com?p=4125

Leah Erickson’s "Gardenia" is a hypnotic journey through identity and transformation. A woman sculpted from ice observes a world of excess, opulence, and fleeting beauty—until she starts to melt. A must-read for fans of surreal fiction. #TBR #literature thebrusselsreview.com/leah-erickso...

A soul strides in conceal, carrying love it dares not reveal. These poems whisper the voices of the dead, of hearts shattered, of dreams unfulfilled. Dive into the depths of this poetic lament. #TBR #Poetry #Heartbreak #Solitude thebrusselsreview.com/mian-ali/whi...

Is love just another form of entrapment, or can it be liberation? Clary and Alice challenge the meaning of commitment in later life. A quiet yet powerful meditation on intimacy and identity. #TBR #AgingAndLove #FreedomOrFear thebrusselsreview.com/karin-doucet...

A playful takedown of machismo, ego, and performative bravado. Sometimes, the best fights are the ones staged for the real audience: the oblivious crowd. #Satire #SocialCritique #BarroomDrama #Humor #ShortFiction #TBR thebrusselsreview.com/bill-kitcher...