Josh Shepard
@joshshepard.bsky.social
Poetry & Pro Wrestling | Author of CUTTING PROMOS: PRO WRESTLING ERASURE POEMS (BRUISER 2024) INSIDE VOICE (Ghost City Press 2022) | Library Worker | Recent work: linktr.ee/JoshShepard | he/him
Reposted by Josh Shepard
The homie @joshshepard.bsky.social having a sale of his worldly possessions @thefloatingbookshop.com , and he already hooked me up with some National Geographics and stamp making supplies(through the library!) So this spread dedicated to helping cool people who do cool stuff…D.i.y.
November 22, 2025 at 4:58 PM
The homie @joshshepard.bsky.social having a sale of his worldly possessions @thefloatingbookshop.com , and he already hooked me up with some National Geographics and stamp making supplies(through the library!) So this spread dedicated to helping cool people who do cool stuff…D.i.y.
Reposted by Josh Shepard
Shirts are selling GREAT but your metalhead brother is gonna be mad when he finds out you didn't get him the Brody jawn for Xmas
BRUISERS, LIT FREAKS and SMART MARKS:
Managing editor @joshshepard.bsky.social got hit by an uninsured driver, resulting in heavy ER and auto costs.
To help one of the very best of us, we are offering two shirts for preorder, with every dime going toward Josh's bills: bruisermag.bigcartel.com
Managing editor @joshshepard.bsky.social got hit by an uninsured driver, resulting in heavy ER and auto costs.
To help one of the very best of us, we are offering two shirts for preorder, with every dime going toward Josh's bills: bruisermag.bigcartel.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Shirts are selling GREAT but your metalhead brother is gonna be mad when he finds out you didn't get him the Brody jawn for Xmas
Reposted by Josh Shepard
BRUISERS, LIT FREAKS and SMART MARKS:
Managing editor @joshshepard.bsky.social got hit by an uninsured driver, resulting in heavy ER and auto costs.
To help one of the very best of us, we are offering two shirts for preorder, with every dime going toward Josh's bills: bruisermag.bigcartel.com
Managing editor @joshshepard.bsky.social got hit by an uninsured driver, resulting in heavy ER and auto costs.
To help one of the very best of us, we are offering two shirts for preorder, with every dime going toward Josh's bills: bruisermag.bigcartel.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:09 PM
BRUISERS, LIT FREAKS and SMART MARKS:
Managing editor @joshshepard.bsky.social got hit by an uninsured driver, resulting in heavy ER and auto costs.
To help one of the very best of us, we are offering two shirts for preorder, with every dime going toward Josh's bills: bruisermag.bigcartel.com
Managing editor @joshshepard.bsky.social got hit by an uninsured driver, resulting in heavy ER and auto costs.
To help one of the very best of us, we are offering two shirts for preorder, with every dime going toward Josh's bills: bruisermag.bigcartel.com
Reposted by Josh Shepard
BRUISER ZINE 008: Lily Herman's poetry collection SPREE. Celebrate with us at Normals on Sunday 9/28!
SPREE is available for preorder now: bruisermag.bigcartel.com/product/spree
SPREE is available for preorder now: bruisermag.bigcartel.com/product/spree
September 15, 2025 at 6:10 PM
BRUISER ZINE 008: Lily Herman's poetry collection SPREE. Celebrate with us at Normals on Sunday 9/28!
SPREE is available for preorder now: bruisermag.bigcartel.com/product/spree
SPREE is available for preorder now: bruisermag.bigcartel.com/product/spree
Reposted by Josh Shepard
many thanks to @bruisermag.com for publishing this one. please enjoy the trainer I made in the midst of hammering it out. or not, if you don't enjoy Japanese men trying to kill each other
September 15, 2025 at 4:56 PM
many thanks to @bruisermag.com for publishing this one. please enjoy the trainer I made in the midst of hammering it out. or not, if you don't enjoy Japanese men trying to kill each other
Reposted by Josh Shepard
bruiser is cool as hell AND here are 3 more poems from me
dad, what will you do
when your heart gives out
with your right hand on the wheel
Three poems by @whoastanderson.bsky.social
www.bruisermag.com/anderson_thr...
when your heart gives out
with your right hand on the wheel
Three poems by @whoastanderson.bsky.social
www.bruisermag.com/anderson_thr...
August 29, 2025 at 4:17 PM
bruiser is cool as hell AND here are 3 more poems from me
Reposted by Josh Shepard
Start your week off with the first round of YANO SEASON essays. Four matches, life experiences, grand theories about the great sport of professional wrestling, and the goddamn greatest wrestler of all time.
For two straight years NJPW has left the king of the G1 Climax out of the tournament, and we can’t stand it anymore.
BRUISER and BIG EGG proudly present YANO SEASON, a celebration of the trickster god of Japanese wrestling from @colettearrand.bsky.social
www.bruisermag.com/arrand_yanos...
BRUISER and BIG EGG proudly present YANO SEASON, a celebration of the trickster god of Japanese wrestling from @colettearrand.bsky.social
www.bruisermag.com/arrand_yanos...
July 28, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Start your week off with the first round of YANO SEASON essays. Four matches, life experiences, grand theories about the great sport of professional wrestling, and the goddamn greatest wrestler of all time.
Reposted by Josh Shepard
if you're looking for a quick and strange read for the Sealey Challenge, please consider my chapbook "Ragnarök at the Father-Daughter Dance" !!!!!
variantlit.com/product/td/
variantlit.com/product/td/
Ragnarök at the Father-Daughter Dance
The titular father of Todd Dillard’s marvelous chapbook Ragnarök at the Father-Daughter Dance quickly tells us “It’s my job to find the dead.” And so he does, navigating surfaced graveyards, …
variantlit.com
July 28, 2025 at 1:33 PM
if you're looking for a quick and strange read for the Sealey Challenge, please consider my chapbook "Ragnarök at the Father-Daughter Dance" !!!!!
variantlit.com/product/td/
variantlit.com/product/td/
Reposted by Josh Shepard
Friends, the time has arrived.
Welcome to YANO SEASON.
Welcome to YANO SEASON.
For two straight years NJPW has left the king of the G1 Climax out of the tournament, and we can’t stand it anymore.
BRUISER and BIG EGG proudly present YANO SEASON, a celebration of the trickster god of Japanese wrestling from @colettearrand.bsky.social
www.bruisermag.com/arrand_yanos...
BRUISER and BIG EGG proudly present YANO SEASON, a celebration of the trickster god of Japanese wrestling from @colettearrand.bsky.social
www.bruisermag.com/arrand_yanos...
July 25, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Friends, the time has arrived.
Welcome to YANO SEASON.
Welcome to YANO SEASON.
Reposted by Josh Shepard
The last time I saw him, he advised me to “abandon the craft if legacy is the intent.” I told him “tough shit, I have to get out of here.”
I DREAM OF BEING ELSEWHERE by Brooke Nicole Plummer
www.bruisermag.com/plummer_else...
I DREAM OF BEING ELSEWHERE by Brooke Nicole Plummer
www.bruisermag.com/plummer_else...
I DREAM OF BEING ELSEWHERE by Brooke Nicole Plummer - BRUISER
I dream of being elsewhere — a provocative — luminous — lively place — where no one knows my name & Pepto-Bismol vomit is stained on the train
www.bruisermag.com
July 22, 2025 at 2:07 PM
The last time I saw him, he advised me to “abandon the craft if legacy is the intent.” I told him “tough shit, I have to get out of here.”
I DREAM OF BEING ELSEWHERE by Brooke Nicole Plummer
www.bruisermag.com/plummer_else...
I DREAM OF BEING ELSEWHERE by Brooke Nicole Plummer
www.bruisermag.com/plummer_else...
Reposted by Josh Shepard
Hey, I'm in BRUISER, one of my favorites places for great stuff!
This is a short story about a dinner party and a man with a very tiny mouth. I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks @bruisermag.com!
This is a short story about a dinner party and a man with a very tiny mouth. I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks @bruisermag.com!
He smelled like garlic and gristle. I guess you can have bad breath no matter how small your mouth is.
RIGHT, JUST A REGULAR HEAD BUT A TINY MOUTH LIKE ONLY A STRAW COULD FIT by @supernaturalfeat.com
www.bruisermag.com/weaver_regul...
RIGHT, JUST A REGULAR HEAD BUT A TINY MOUTH LIKE ONLY A STRAW COULD FIT by @supernaturalfeat.com
www.bruisermag.com/weaver_regul...
RIGHT, JUST A REGULAR HEAD BUT A TINY MOUTH LIKE ONLY A STRAW COULD FIT by Dan Weaver - BRUISER
That’s how I would describe it. Only a straw. I would describe the mouth as just super tiny. Like a pea. There was a regular jawline but I think
www.bruisermag.com
June 27, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Hey, I'm in BRUISER, one of my favorites places for great stuff!
This is a short story about a dinner party and a man with a very tiny mouth. I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks @bruisermag.com!
This is a short story about a dinner party and a man with a very tiny mouth. I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks @bruisermag.com!
Reposted by Josh Shepard
He smelled like garlic and gristle. I guess you can have bad breath no matter how small your mouth is.
RIGHT, JUST A REGULAR HEAD BUT A TINY MOUTH LIKE ONLY A STRAW COULD FIT by @supernaturalfeat.com
www.bruisermag.com/weaver_regul...
RIGHT, JUST A REGULAR HEAD BUT A TINY MOUTH LIKE ONLY A STRAW COULD FIT by @supernaturalfeat.com
www.bruisermag.com/weaver_regul...
RIGHT, JUST A REGULAR HEAD BUT A TINY MOUTH LIKE ONLY A STRAW COULD FIT by Dan Weaver - BRUISER
That’s how I would describe it. Only a straw. I would describe the mouth as just super tiny. Like a pea. There was a regular jawline but I think
www.bruisermag.com
June 27, 2025 at 5:36 PM
He smelled like garlic and gristle. I guess you can have bad breath no matter how small your mouth is.
RIGHT, JUST A REGULAR HEAD BUT A TINY MOUTH LIKE ONLY A STRAW COULD FIT by @supernaturalfeat.com
www.bruisermag.com/weaver_regul...
RIGHT, JUST A REGULAR HEAD BUT A TINY MOUTH LIKE ONLY A STRAW COULD FIT by @supernaturalfeat.com
www.bruisermag.com/weaver_regul...
Reposted by Josh Shepard
Poetry and comedy… high risk idea but actually a great success
June 27, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Poetry and comedy… high risk idea but actually a great success
Reposted by Josh Shepard
Read this yesterday and I love it.
Why not read my new piece at BRUISER? www.bruisermag.com/zeller_cubist
June 1, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Read this yesterday and I love it.
Reposted by Josh Shepard
Very stoked to have made my @bruisermag.com debut with “The Limbo of Coolness,” a poem that is a triptych but also a stand-up monologue but also an essay about masking with enjambments rooted in jazz theory and I will shut up now just uh give it a read I guess 🫡
www.bruisermag.com/shosa_limbo
www.bruisermag.com/shosa_limbo
THE LIMBO OF COOLNESS by Travis Shosa - BRUISER
When I was in school, a Real Stunner imparted that I was “Cooler than I looked,” which I took to mean that I was built like a mathlete but mentally
www.bruisermag.com
May 30, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Very stoked to have made my @bruisermag.com debut with “The Limbo of Coolness,” a poem that is a triptych but also a stand-up monologue but also an essay about masking with enjambments rooted in jazz theory and I will shut up now just uh give it a read I guess 🫡
www.bruisermag.com/shosa_limbo
www.bruisermag.com/shosa_limbo
Reposted by Josh Shepard
When I was in school, a Real
Stunner imparted that I was
“Cooler than I looked,” which
I took to mean that I was built
like a mathlete but mentally ill.
THE LIMBO OF COOLNESS by @travisshosa.bsky.social
www.bruisermag.com/shosa_limbo
Stunner imparted that I was
“Cooler than I looked,” which
I took to mean that I was built
like a mathlete but mentally ill.
THE LIMBO OF COOLNESS by @travisshosa.bsky.social
www.bruisermag.com/shosa_limbo
May 29, 2025 at 2:32 PM
When I was in school, a Real
Stunner imparted that I was
“Cooler than I looked,” which
I took to mean that I was built
like a mathlete but mentally ill.
THE LIMBO OF COOLNESS by @travisshosa.bsky.social
www.bruisermag.com/shosa_limbo
Stunner imparted that I was
“Cooler than I looked,” which
I took to mean that I was built
like a mathlete but mentally ill.
THE LIMBO OF COOLNESS by @travisshosa.bsky.social
www.bruisermag.com/shosa_limbo
Reposted by Josh Shepard
Snarling at once, he drops lunch (and it floats out to sea for the meanest / jowls).
Jonathan Swift in Translation by Jake and Madeleine Sheff.
www.bruisermag.com/sheff_swift
Jonathan Swift in Translation by Jake and Madeleine Sheff.
www.bruisermag.com/sheff_swift
May 23, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Snarling at once, he drops lunch (and it floats out to sea for the meanest / jowls).
Jonathan Swift in Translation by Jake and Madeleine Sheff.
www.bruisermag.com/sheff_swift
Jonathan Swift in Translation by Jake and Madeleine Sheff.
www.bruisermag.com/sheff_swift
Reposted by Josh Shepard
Thanks to @joshshepard.bsky.social , all of our scifi and general fiction books are alphabetized
We’ll be working hard tomorrow and Monday to make sure we’re ready for our reopening on Tuesday at 10’
We’ll be working hard tomorrow and Monday to make sure we’re ready for our reopening on Tuesday at 10’
January 19, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Thanks to @joshshepard.bsky.social , all of our scifi and general fiction books are alphabetized
We’ll be working hard tomorrow and Monday to make sure we’re ready for our reopening on Tuesday at 10’
We’ll be working hard tomorrow and Monday to make sure we’re ready for our reopening on Tuesday at 10’
January 13, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Reposted by Josh Shepard
I didn’t do a lot of writing this year that you can’t find on BIG EGG, but one thing I did do was a career retrospective with Sting for Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
pwi-online.com/sting-retire...
pwi-online.com/sting-retire...
December 27, 2024 at 4:11 PM
I didn’t do a lot of writing this year that you can’t find on BIG EGG, but one thing I did do was a career retrospective with Sting for Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
pwi-online.com/sting-retire...
pwi-online.com/sting-retire...
Reposted by Josh Shepard
Our bruiser-in-chief has a short story out today in the excellent new mag scaffold: www.scaffoldlit.com/microwriting...
human library by mark wadley — scaffold literary magazine
flash fiction
www.scaffoldlit.com
November 13, 2024 at 10:55 PM
Our bruiser-in-chief has a short story out today in the excellent new mag scaffold: www.scaffoldlit.com/microwriting...
Reposted by Josh Shepard
Haven't been posting here for a while but just got an influx of new followers so I guess we'll get back on it. Check out www.bruisermag.com to see what you've been missing
BRUISER
The latest entries posted on BRUISER
www.bruisermag.com
November 11, 2024 at 11:30 AM
Haven't been posting here for a while but just got an influx of new followers so I guess we'll get back on it. Check out www.bruisermag.com to see what you've been missing
Reposted by Josh Shepard
𝘾𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙨 by @joshshepard.bsky.social is awesome! Preorder it now from @bruiser.bsky.social
BRUISER Zine 002: 𝘾𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙨: 𝙋𝙧𝙤 𝙒𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙀𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙚𝙢𝙨 by @joshshepard.bsky.social will ship beginning Saturday, February 24.
"a life lesson that will never go out of style." - @justinkarcher.bsky.social
Preorder now: bruiser.gumroad.com/l/cutting-pr...
"a life lesson that will never go out of style." - @justinkarcher.bsky.social
Preorder now: bruiser.gumroad.com/l/cutting-pr...
February 8, 2024 at 4:49 PM
𝘾𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙨 by @joshshepard.bsky.social is awesome! Preorder it now from @bruiser.bsky.social
Reposted by Josh Shepard
BRUISER Zine 002: 𝘾𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙨: 𝙋𝙧𝙤 𝙒𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙀𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙚𝙢𝙨 by @joshshepard.bsky.social will ship beginning Saturday, February 24.
"a life lesson that will never go out of style." - @justinkarcher.bsky.social
Preorder now: bruiser.gumroad.com/l/cutting-pr...
"a life lesson that will never go out of style." - @justinkarcher.bsky.social
Preorder now: bruiser.gumroad.com/l/cutting-pr...
February 8, 2024 at 3:14 PM
BRUISER Zine 002: 𝘾𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙨: 𝙋𝙧𝙤 𝙒𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙀𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙚𝙢𝙨 by @joshshepard.bsky.social will ship beginning Saturday, February 24.
"a life lesson that will never go out of style." - @justinkarcher.bsky.social
Preorder now: bruiser.gumroad.com/l/cutting-pr...
"a life lesson that will never go out of style." - @justinkarcher.bsky.social
Preorder now: bruiser.gumroad.com/l/cutting-pr...
Reposted by Josh Shepard
MORE ZINES INCOMING. We are very pleased to announce the remaining zines in our first print series, featuring exciting work from Josh Shepard, Arzhang Zafar, Ashley E. Walters, David Simmons, and a collaboration between Kelly Xio & Aeon Ginsberg
Read more here: bruisermag.com/zines_lineup
Read more here: bruisermag.com/zines_lineup
January 9, 2024 at 3:37 AM
MORE ZINES INCOMING. We are very pleased to announce the remaining zines in our first print series, featuring exciting work from Josh Shepard, Arzhang Zafar, Ashley E. Walters, David Simmons, and a collaboration between Kelly Xio & Aeon Ginsberg
Read more here: bruisermag.com/zines_lineup
Read more here: bruisermag.com/zines_lineup