Sean Carlson

The Fashion Issue 2026 — Catamaran Literary Reader

Cover art is out and pre-orders are open for the new fashion-themed issue of Catamaran Literary Reader, in which I have a short essay that begins with the time I took a bet that I couldn't wear 20 t-shirts simultaneously! Out in print next week. catamaranliteraryreader.com/the-fashion-...

In a league of their own for celebrating new writing from past contributors, SLM's latest round-up includes some of my recent work in @bulbculture.bsky.social, Crannóg, @independent.ie, and @newenglandreview.bsky.social!

More on the way! <3s, @maureenlangloss.bsky.social, et al.

Lighting Isakov: Illuminating the music of Gregory Alan Isakov and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra - Motif As the house lights dimmed on a nearly sold-out crowd of 3,000 at the Providence Performing Arts Center on January 29, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, silhouetted in silence on […]

NBCC member Sean Carlson reviewed the lighting design behind Gregory Alan Isakov's recent concert with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra at the Providence Performing Arts Center for Rhode Island's alternative monthly Motif magazine:

what a generous response; thank you so much!

TONIGHT! Riffraff, Providence, 7 p.m. Hope you can make it...

Fragment of a Providence mural layered over an open copy of the New England Review (Vol. 46-3.4) beside a cappuccino at Reprise

Countdown!

Rhode Island writers John Cotter, Emily Pittinos, Sam Simas, Jodie Noel Vinson, and I will be reading from some of our work in @newenglandreview.bsky.social.

Tomorrow (Tue., Feb. 17th.) at 7 p.m. at Riffraff Bookstore & Bar in Providence.

Please join. Come early, stay late, buy books!

Easter Week in Valencia - Image Journal Holy Tuesday, a bag of dried figs left with our stroller

I started working on "Easter Week in Valencia" while with my family in Spain, and am overjoyed to see this poem now online and in print in the latest issue of Image Journal: imagejournal.org/article/east...

“Easter Week in Valencia” in Image, events in Providence, and more... Two new poems, plus an upcoming reading and workshop for the New Englanders in your life

Thanks so much! Now live: A new poem from Spain — "Easter Week in Valencia" — in Image, events in Providence (Rhode Island), and more... seancarlson.substack.com/p/easter-wee...

On the periphery | Seán Carlson | Substack Stories, tangents and all. Click to read On the periphery, by Seán Carlson, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

New newsletter out tomorrow, if you'd like to subscribe today! seancarlson.substack.com

RESCHEDULED! Jodie Noel Vinson, Emily Pittinos, John Cotter, and I are looking forward to reading from our work in the @newenglandreview.bsky.social — with a late addition of Sam Simas, too! Join us: Tue., Feb. 17th at 7 p.m. at Riffraff Bookstore & Bar (60 Valley St.) in Providence, Rhode Island.

good times! @lancerichardson.bsky.social, hope our paths might cross at some point here, too.

"As we spent Covid’s first Christmas at home with our family in Rhode Island, the streets of Dublin were entirely unreachable and the gathering of crowds in general seemed unthinkable." Contributor @sean-carlson.bsky.social's essay is in @bulbculture.bsky.social 💗: buff.ly/zm6iwrr

With the blizzard blowing in, our planned readings from the New England Review (with Jodie Noel Vinson, Emily Pittinos, and John Cotter) at Riffraff Bookstore & Bar in Providence has been postponed. Will share our new date once confirmed.

PRE-ORDER Sobremesa Volume 5: FIRE — Sobremesa Magazine Volume 5: FIRE features: An exploration and photo essay of piib cooking by Jose Cuellar and Katie Rice Memories of watching gleaning fires and pandan-flavored Tau Suan in Thailand by Pasinee Pr...

If you'd like a copy, pre-orders are open now ($20): www.sobremesamagazine.com/shop/p/sobre...

Friends in Austin, Texas:

Prepare for the winter storm with a celebration of fire at First Light Books (on Fri., Jan. 23 at 6 p.m.), as independent food and art magazine Sobremesa releases its latest themed issue — including a new poem of mine, "Not poisonous but bitter."

(Sorry not to be there!)

Front and back cover of Sobremesa Magazine Vol. 5

Pre-orders now open (www.sobremesamagazine.com/shop/p/sobre...) for the next issue of Sobremesa Magazine (Vol. 5 - theme: FIRE! 🔥). Thrilled to have a poem on the blackthorn plant in here. Launch party on Fri., Jan. 23rd at First Light Books in Austin, Texas.

On the periphery | Seán Carlson | Substack Stories, tangents and all. Click to read On the periphery, by Seán Carlson, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

Subscribe here for others (irregularly sent!): seancarlson.substack.com

"Henry Street [Dublin] at Christmas, 2012" in Bulb Culture Collective The story of a short video I shot in Dublin that went semi-viral during the first Covid Christmas

Latest newsletter: "Henry Street [Dublin] at Christmas, 2012" in Bulb Culture Collective (@bulbculture.bsky.social) seancarlson.substack.com/p/henry-stre...

Henry Street at Christmas, 2012 - Seán Carlson — Bulb Culture Collective As I neared the corner of Henry Street, I took out my mobile phone and recorded a video of the surrounding scene, less than a minute in length.

Happy holidays! Here's the story of a short video I shot in Dublin that went semi-viral during the first Covid Christmas.

Thanks so much to the editors at @bulbculture.bsky.social for turning the light back on with this one:

www.bulbculturecollective.com/read/henry-s...

Ignore the bestsellers — these are the Irish writers you should read With the help of booksellers and festival directors, Aoife Barry picks the best of this year’s fiction, non-fiction and short stories

Catching up on end-of-year best-ofs here! With @sweetoblivion.bsky.social including @oonaf.bsky.social on her "10 Irish writers you should read" list, dusting off my short review of her very deserving work — This Interim Time — for @commonmag.bsky.social: www.thecommononline.org/what-were-re...

And the print edition can be ordered for $15 here: secure.touchnet.net/C20067_ustor...

And the full text can be read as a PDF via @projectmuse.bsky.social: muse.jhu.edu/pub/48/artic...

The Missouri Review - Teenage Kicks During the pyramid-scheme days of mail-order CD clubs, most music was new to me. The promises offered in the mid-’90s by Columbia House and BMG in

The digital edition of the Missouri Review is now live for subscribers, including my essay on The Undertones: www.missourireview-digital.com/missourirevi...

On the periphery | Seán Carlson | Substack Stories, tangents and all. Click to read On the periphery, by Seán Carlson, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

Subscribe to my occasional newsletter here: seancarlson.substack.com

New writing in the New England Review, the Irish Independent, Crannóg, and more An essay on Cambodia and poetry from Ireland on the cuckoo flower and Polish mushrooms

New writing in the New England Review, the Irish Independent, Crannóg, and more: An essay on Cambodia and poetry from Ireland on the cuckoo flower and Polish mushrooms seancarlson.substack.com/p/new-writin...

NER SINGLE PRINT Purchase just one issue of your choice. See our website at www.nereview.com for the table of contents of the current issue and a complete list of back issues. (

The one-day subscription discount is over, but if you'd still like to order the print edition of the latest New England Review, $22 for U.S. delivery here via the Middlebury College Store: middlebury-college-store.shoplightspeed.com/ner-single-p...

NER Pay What You Can PRINT Subscription Offer! We understand that our subscription rate ($38 for 4 issues) may be inaccessible to some. Today only, you can PAY WHAT YOU CAN and get a one-year print subscript

Really hoping you'll all read my new essay, "Painting the Last Photograph," coming soon in @newenglandreview.bsky.social.

Only in print ($22/issue), a full-year U.S. subscription is *today* "Pay What You Can" ($7, $10, $18, $25, or $38):

middlebury-college-store.shoplightspeed.com/ner-pay-what...

New Irish Writing: Poetry by Seán Carlson Seán is working on his first book, a family memoir of migration. His writing has appeared in the Boston Globe, the Irish Times, the New York Times, RTÉ Radio 1 and elsewhere. His poem, California Redw...

If in Ireland, pick up today's @independent.ie where my poem "Elegant Spring" is this month's New Irish Writing selection! www.independent.ie/entertainmen...

Earth performing at Machines with Magnets in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on Wednesday, November 5, 2025. (Photo credit: Sean Carlson)

When I went to a doom show and a physics lecture broke out. My bit on Earth and Stebmo playing Machines with Magnets. (Plus, a new album due out next year.) motifri.com/resonant-osc...

The print edition of NER 46.3-4 is on its way to subscribers and part one of our online preview is now live! Featuring 58 authors & translators—half of whom have yet to publish a book—you don't want to miss this double issue.

Experience the online preview & subscribe: nereview.com/issue/vol-46...