The Brussels Review - Summer 2025

The Brussels Review - Summer 2025 is a vibrant showcase of international literature, featuring fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that challenges and resonates. With contributors from five continents, this issue offers a panoramic view of contemporary voices, each distinct in style yet united by a commitment to form and depth.

Highlights include:

Fiction:

• Motion Picture Sickness by Beatriz Seelaender: A metafictional novella where actors vanish from film upon death, confronting fame, identity, and the ethics of representation.
• Some Gifts by Gaye Brown: A personal essay on altruism, sacrifice, and the shifting meaning of generosity, grounded in memory and moral ambiguity.
• The Word Thief by Patrick ten Brink: A haunting tale of obsession, grief, and language, where the right words can heal or destroy.

Poetry:

• Sonnet Mondal: Fragments of Life and The Biscuit Factory-meditative poems on memory, tradition, and decay.
• Yelena Moskovich, Christina Brannon, and Paul OBrien: Poetic sequences ranging from lyrical minimalism to textured introspection.

Additional Fiction:

• Hayden in March by Charles Wilkinson
• Like Freedom or Fear by Danila Botha
• Violent Design by Molly Collins
• Please Help Yourself by Jonathan D. Scott
• The Begotten One by Crystal McQueen
• Well Ride Them Someday by Joshua Carlucci
• His Last Picture in the Ashes of the Fire by Wilson Neate
• I Get the Lies by Stacey Megally
• The Farthest Sea by Gabrielle Glaslyn
• Mrs. Purefoy by Yannick Marien
• A Founding Fathers Guide to Contingency Planning by Louis Kummerer

Poetry Contributions:

• Sonnet Mondal (4 poems)
• Yelena Moskovich (7 poems)
• Christina Brannon (3 poems)
• Paul OBrien (7 poems)

Curated by Publishing Editor Dritan Kiçi and the international TBR editorial team, this issue continues The Brussels Reviews mission to bring fearless, cross-cultural literature to the forefront. Printed in rich design and available as both eBook and in print, Summer 2025 captures a moment where boundaries dissolve, and language becomes the last homeland.