In 2014, I had an idea about non-linear literature. A sort of digital choose your own adventure that allowed for our definition of what constituted “narrative” to expand. We started NonBinary Review in order to showcase the platform’s possibilities. But then, after setting aside the software project in 2016, I decided that I really loved what NonBinary Review had become, and I wasn’t ready to let it go.
NonBinary Review had become more than a fun little project where people were writing fanfic about classic literature—it became a community of authors who started working together, encouraging each other, celebrating each others’ successes. When I decided it was time to put NonBinary Review and Zoetic Press aside so that I could work on my own writing, it was that community I thought about. I was afraid of stepping away from such a warm, supportive community, afraid of not being able to let more people in.
I was also sad because there’s still so much great literature left out there—books that speak to people, inspire them, encourage authors to make them their own. But no matter how many issues of NonBinary Review we put out, people are going to keep writing amazing, inspiring literature.
In a way, I’m really pleased that we chose to go out with The Odyssey—literature so old, it pre-dates written fiction. Back in the days that The Odyssey was first written down, the idea of “ownership” of literature didn’t exist. A person would write something, and if they wanted other people to read it, they gave copies to a library or a person with a large collection of scrolls. If it was good, people would copy the scrolls, often making changes to them. While The Odyssey was credited to Homer, it was a story from an oral tradition that had been added to, subtracted from, multiplied, and divided over the years. I wonder if Homer would recognize the story that bears his name. In a way, we’re continuing that tradition here.
My reason for wanting to do The Odyssey was twofold: first, I’ve been in love with Greek mythology since I learned to read. I cut my teeth on stories of gods that were like superheroes to me. I could trace their lineages, recount their exploits, tell you which gods ruled over which worldly things like ancient Greek saints. I loved Greek mythology so much, I named my second daughter after Odysseus’s patron and protector.
The second reason was the appearance in 2017 of the first English translation by a woman—British classicist Emily Wilson, whose modern English translation takes away the intermediate step of mentally translating the stilted, King James Bible English used by many translators into clear language that flows beautifully and leaves the reader free to think about the images, the story, the dynamic between the characters. I’d slogged through The Odyssey in a couple of different translations before, and while each has its merits, none was an easy read. Wilson’s translation invites the reader to lose herself in the story.
In a lot of ways, The Odyssey is like the Bible—a text from an oral tradition whose words have been translated and re-translated thousands of times, whose text suggests far more than it spells out, and whose stories have inspired copycats, additions, and improvements.
There were a few stories that resonated with a lot of people: Polyphemus, the son of Poseidon; Calypso, who kept Odysseus for seven years; Penelope, the patient wife; Scylla and Charybdis, a vortex and a ravenous monster Odysseus must pass to get home. Why these? I can only speculate. All of them represent ways of seeing either something good we’d like to be (a faithful partner, an enticing lover) or something bad we fear we already are (an innocent victim, a disaster waiting to happen).
The Odyssey continues to resonate because every character—human, god, or monster—is us. Who we are, who we’d like to be, who we might become if we allow our baser natures to rule us, who we could be if we overcame our limitations.
We, the staff at Zoetic press, as well as the over four hundred authors who have appeared in the pages of NonBinary Review, hope that you are inspired by this, our final, and largest, edition, and we thank you from the deepest place in our hearts.
Lise Quintana

The Odyssey cover
MANDEM is a media-fluid, time-displaced artist conglomerate of warring tribes forcibly integrated into a single crazed posthuman system. Their internationally-exhibiting painting series “Hypermobility” has been awarded multiple grants. MANDEM serves as visual arts editor for the journal Deaf Poets Society.

The Lotus Eaters
Z. C. is a writer and educator.

The Seventh Year
Alexandra is a writer and magazine editor whose greatest achievement is playing Magic: The Gathering with Brandon Sanderson one time. Her writing has appeared in PodCastle, Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, and Deep Magic.

Mother of Monsters
Jennifer’s work has been published in Australian Poetry Journal, Cosmos Magazine, Going Down Swinging, The Pedestal Magazine and more. She is the author of The Duties of a Cat and The Loyalty of Chickens.

The Lotus Eater Clarifies Her Addiction
Andrea’s work is featured in Eye Rhyme, Rio Grande Review, New Orleans Review, Monday Nights: Stories from the Creative Writing Workshop at the University of New Orleans, and most recently in Gravel Magazine.

The Laying On of Hands
Gayle is the author most recently of the memoir The Art of Misdiagnosis. Her novel in poems, Many Restless Concerns, will be published this December by Black Lawrence Press.

Odysseus Alone at Sea
Amy writes poetry, poem-comics, and fiction. Her work has been seen in Split Rock Review, Psaltery & Lyre, and Sheepshead Review. Find her on Instagram @amy_e_casey.

Siren’s Daughter
Brittney is the author of the poetry collections Navigation and 40 Weeks. Her current manuscript is a collection of persona poems in the voices of daughters of various characters from folklore, mythology, and popular culture.

Dawn from Ocean’s Streams
J. E. creates personal narratives related to thoughts about fate, destiny and the meaning of dreams. J.E. also has an exciting career as an elementary art teacher of nearly one thousand children a week in central Pennsylvania.

The Shepherds
Thom Eagle currently lives in London, where until recently he was a chef; he writes about and around food. Odysseus’ burning olive spear has haunted him all his life.

Beeswax: A Love Story
Andrea loves coffee, theater, and the cool, misty days of the Pacific Northwest. Her stories have been published in Shooter Literary Magazine, Every Day Fiction, Flight Journal, and Blue Fifth Review.

Life/Story: Eumaeus the Swineherd Tells His Own Tale
Mary is a professor in the Classics Department at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. She has published essays on the Homeric epics in New England Review (2016) and Michigan Quarterly Review (2017).

Lament
Tara’s poems have appeared in TAOS Journal of International Poetry & Art, The American Journal of Poetry, and Stirring, among others. She founded Salisbury, Maryland’s Poetry Week, and is co-chair of the Bay to Ocean Writers Conference.

A Moment on the Lips
Jenn’s work has appeared in One Story, Crazyhorse, Shenandoah, and The Iowa Review. She is the winner of the 2019 Pinch Award in Fiction as well as the 2019 John Gardner Memorial Fiction Prize, from Harpur Palate.
“A Moment on the Lips” was previously published in Tampa Review (summer/fall 2012)

The Mouth of Charybdis
Lillie is a trans author and playwright living in Chicago, Illinois. She writes about things that could never happen because she can’t think of anything more truthful. You can follow her on Twitter at @onyxaminedlife.

The Oddest Sea
S. has been writing for a number of years in the horror, fantasy, sci-fi and humour genres. Tertiary educated, former acrobat and professional wrestler, a father of two and well past 40 years old, he hopes to be a real writer when he grows up.

Eos’ Pitcher of Dew
Laurie received a BFA after spending several years making props and set dressing for theatre. That deep immersion in over-life-size fantasy productions continues to inform her artwork as she pursues the mythic and ethereal.

The Maidens
Peter is a twenty four year old Literature student living in Oxford. He likes bad horror films, good fairytales and all poetry.

Author’s photo courtesy of Oliver Facey.

In Penelope’s Dream
Kristina is a graduate of Pacific University’s MFA in Writing program and recent poems of hers have appeared in Broad Street, Cactus Heart, High Desert Journal, and Tinderbox.

Waiting on Odysseus
Laila is the author of two novels, Once in a Promised Land and West of the Jordan, as well as a collection of poetry my name on his tongue.

Nostos
Max’s poems have appeared in The Cortland Review, Columbia Poetry Review, Glass (Poets Resist), Tar River Poetry, Free State Review, and The American Journal of Poetry, among others.

The Suitors’ Sluts
Rachel is an undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis. She recently studied in Nepal where she spent time with yak herders, resulting in a long for piece recounting the disappearing world of pastoralists.

Tonight, We Will Dance
Jenny is a Chinese-American high school student from Cincinnati, OH. She is passionate about using writing to promote diverse voices. Her work has appeared in magazines and anthologies in the USA, Hong Kong, and China.

Poseidon Sits at His Window
G R R y Huertas is alive.

Cousin Penelope Thinks We Think She’s Off the Oxy
Jennifer edits confidential documents for the government. Her work has appeared in Prairie Schooner, Pleiades, and the Wizard of Oz issue of NonBinary Review.

Siren’s Lament
John has been published in A Shadow of Autumn, Modern Grimoire, Dark Fire Fiction, Theme of Absence, NonBinary Review, and in the Unnerving Press’s, Haunted Are These Houses, and Camden Press’s anthology, Quoth the Raven.

Homecoming
Emma is an essayist and poet whose writing has appeared in Bright Wall/Dark Room, Not Very Quiet, and Glassworks among others. You can find her lamenting about sports and religion on Twitter @emmathekoch.

penelope, awaiting
Kavi is a queer, Indo-American poet found in New Jersey. They spend time on hobbies such as writing, mythology, and their various identity crises.

The Weavers’ Tale
Marie’s work has appeared in Gargoyle, Nonbinary Review, and Orbis. She’s published volumes of poetry and fiction, and curated anthologies, including Gondal Heights: A Bronte Tribute Anthology (Sybaritic Press, 2019).

Achilles in Phthia
Marie is a retired High School Spanish Teacher. She is an active member of the Woodlands Writing Guild. Her work has appeared in their 2017 anthology Rising Waters and the 2018 anthology Our Haunted Woods.

A Dead Hero Saves a Dying Boy
A. G. is a writer and graduate student in a PhD program at Florida State University. His work has previously been published in Rejected! Zine.

She Contains All
Judith is a Baltimore-based artist, writer, and monologist. Her publications include Read It Back and All of a sudden our bodies are objects. She’s contributed to NonBinary Review, 100 Word Story, Unbroken, and Petite Hound Press.

A (Re)Interpretation of an Artificial Dream
Michael is a Navy veteran, poet and Lacanian psychoanalyst in formation. He lives in Colorado.

Etiquette For the Receiving of Gods
Lisa studied Film at York University, Toronto, and English Literature at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. She has published poems in The Sewanee Review, HCE Review, Limestone Review, and Thema.

Ulysses
Toti makes a living as a self-employed artist, performing musician and professional dancer. Her work has recently appeared in Mizmor, A Migration Anthology, Crossways, and Colorado Boulevard.
“Ulysses” was previously published in Rose Red Review, Winter 2015.

After Troy
W. P. ‘s Seven Tales and Seven Stories won the 2013 Unboxed Books Prize. He has work in After Coetzee: an Anthology of Animal Fictions, Mississippi Review, Another Chicago Magazine, Clockhouse, Fiction International, and Gargoyle.

Hermes
Tammie uses wickedly strong tea to fuel her imaginative fiction. You can learn more at TammiePainter.com.

Slaughter of the Suitors
Michael’s short stories have appeared in Satire, The Door and other publications. His illustrations have appeared in My Friend, Balloons Literary Journal, Stone Bridge Cafe, Gravel, Parhelion, and Cargo, among others.

Proxy, Instruction Manual
Eric’s poems have recently appeared in: Plain Spoke, The 2018 Surrealist/Outsider Anthologie, Rue Scribe, Cathexis Northwest Press, The Stirling Spoon, and The International Anthology on Paradoxism.

Calypso, Riddled
Katherine lives with her husband and two sons near Portland, OR. Her poetry has appeared in Songs of Eretz, Civilized Beasts, and the Santa Clara Review, and her fiction has appeared in Factor Four, Apparition Lit, and elsewhere.

Nausicaa
Monica is a MacDowell Colony Fellow and Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellow, she has taught writing and interdisciplinary arts at Harvard, CUNY, and the Boston Museum School.

Penelope Sends a Love Letter
Meghan’s work has appeared in Mom Egg Review, Blast Furnace Journal, cahoodaloodaling, Snapdragon: A Journal of Art & Healing, and Quiet Circle Magazine.

The Length of the Odyssey
Sarah has three poetry collections, The Human Contract, Notes from a Nomad, and With a Polaroid Camera, forthcoming in 2019. Recently, poems have appeared in Artemis, The Sewanee Review, and RHINO.

handmaid to the witch
Tekla has four poems forthcoming this fall, in Indie Blu(e) Publishing’s This is What Love Looks Like: Poetry by Women Smitten with Women. Their work explores the intersections of gender, sexuality, and history.

Drink This, You’ll Feel Better
Sarah received her MFA in poetry from the University of New Hampshire, and has had poems appear in RHINO Poetry, Star*Line, and Strange Horizons, among others. Find her on Twitter @abendlied.

Polyphemus
Rachel’s work has previously appeared in The Ghazal Page, Hanging Loose Magazine, Unsplendid, Jokes Review, Matter Press, 3Elements Review, and Bodega Magazine, among others.
“Polyphemus” was originally published in Borderline.

Teeth’s Barrier
Christopher’s work can be found in the Malpais Review, Pasatiempo, Silver Needle Press, Cathexis Northwest and Cagibi. He also volunteers as a translator for Somos Un Pueblo Unido and Santa Fe Dreamers Project.

Polyphemus Speaks
Stephen’s short works of magical fiction have been published in Circa, the Smoky Blue Literary and Arts Magazine, and Chicago Literati. He’s currently working on a short story collection and a novel.

Odyssea
Rebecca is a high school English teacher in St. Louis, Missouri. She is an MFA candidate at University of Missouri-St. Louis.

In the Country of the Cyclops
Thomas’s first novel, Icefields, received the 1996 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book, and his collection of stories, The Logogryph, was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award.

It Is Not Unfair to Say That I Have Become Obsessed With Medusa
Johana-Marie is a writer, artist, and historian focusing on Black women and femmes’ health and religio-spiritual experiences. You can find her work in Relief Journal, Amethyst Review, The Coalition, and other publications.

Parabola
Timothy writes short fiction and poetry. He received his BFA in English from Saginaw Valley State University where he also worked as poetry editor for Cardinal Sins. His work has appeared in Qua Magazine.

Before Paris Came
Elizabeth’s work has appeared in Hanging Loose Magazine, Up North Lit, The Defiant Scribe, Jet Fuel Review, and Euphony. In 2018 Gordon Square Review nominated her short story “Leda’s Daughters” for a Pushcart Prize.

The Sailors Mutter After Odysseus Orders Them Not to Open the Sack From Aeolus
Meg lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work has appeared recently or is forthcoming in publications including the East Bay Review, Rogue Agent, SWWIM, Peauxdunque Review, and District Lit.

umbrella dreamscapes
Katya’s work explores the extremes of the human condition and seeks to validate those struggling to articulate intense and complex emotions. They work with children with multiple disabilities at Perkins School for the Blind.

The Value of Beauty
Elizabeth’s fiction has appeared in 18thWall’s anthology After Avalon, as well as in NonBinary Review, Timeless Tales, and Footnote, where she was long-listed for the Charter Oak Award. She lives in New Jersey.

Issue #22: The Odyssey

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Issue #22: The Odyssey

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