The Brussels Review: Spring 2026
The Spring 2026 issue of The Brussels Review brings together an international collection of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that explores the shifting emotional landscapes of modern life. From grief and memory to identity, language, and the quiet dramas of everyday experience, the writers in this volume examine how individuals confront change and make meaning from the past.
The issue opens with nonfiction that reflects on the world through observation, language, and lived experience. Mark D. Crimmins's Glimpses of Gangnam captures the subtle rhythms of urban life in Seoul through a stream-of-consciousness portrait of a caf and its passing characters. James B. Nicola's The Gentle Revolution considers how small changes in language reveal deeper cultural transformations toward fairness and inclusivity. Ann Perrins's Asparagus, a Gift for Audrey offers a warm and nostalgic reflection on village life, family, and the quiet bonds that shape our lives, while Pete Warzel's Damage recreates the emotional immediacy of a near-disaster and the ripple effects our actions leave behind.
The fiction in this issue ranges widely in tone and theme. Jacqueline Chou's An Ode to Jammie Evans revisits childhood injustice and the long shadow of guilt, while Marcus Delmont's Three Days reflects on compassion across cultural divides. Meryl A.H. Franzos's Hair of the Dog explores trauma resurfacing from the past, and Erin Gaura's Bed Linens turns the obsessive details of language into a mirror of heartbreak. Kevin MacAlan's Wish You Were Here examines denial and grief through a son's attempt to escape his father's death. Scott Macmann contributes two stories-A Child's Christmas in Ohio and Gracie-that move between childhood innocence and the fragility of adult relationships. John Picard's The People's Choice juxtaposes the life of a veteran with PTSD against the artificial glamour of reality television, Anthony Schneck's Flavor Profile delivers an absurdist meditation on consumer culture and perception, and Thomas Wright's Anglo-Irish reflects on immigration, identity, and generational tension in late-twentieth-century England.
The poetry section distills complex emotional states into concentrated lyric moments. Poems by Ann Marie Gamble, Collin Garrity, Olivia Soule, and Ty Cronkhite explore themes of aging, grief, irony, vulnerability, and modern anxiety, demonstrating how compressed language can illuminate the tensions between thought and feeling.
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