Taking Back 1001 Nights
The story of Scheherazade—the framing narrative for the collection 1001 Arabian Nights—isn’t one that causes the word feminism to spring to mind. After all, it’s the story of a cuckolded king, who, upon learning of his wife’s infidelity, has her beheaded and then marries a series of virgins, each of whom are beheaded the morning after their wedding night. The king has gone through 1,000 wives this way before marrying the vizier’s daughter, Scheherazade, who manages to keep her life and earn the king’s love by telling him a thrilling story that ends on a cliffhanger each night for 1001 nights. Not exactly a tale of female empowerment—or is it?
While on the surface, there’s no getting around the fact that there’s a deeply rooted sexism and thread of brutality to the story—it’s nothing that we don’t see in most fairy tales and folklore. Which is what makes 1001 Arabian Nights the perfect kind of collection for Zoetic Press. Our authors and artists consistently surprise us with their ability to subvert the oppressive ideology that frames these kind of stories, and re-invent the tales with a modern sensibility, one that seamlessly fuses the personal and political to birth a modern mythology onto our pages.
With each issue we curate, we notice that our authors—regardless of geographic location and most contributors being complete strangers—seem to have a certain hive-mind approach to our themes. Without any prompting, each issue’s theme seems to give rise to a “subtheme”—our authors all notice one particular element of our theme’s story and each author re-fashions this narrative thread in their own way. For us as editors, this is fascinating to watch, and it also re-affirms our choices for the stories we choose as the basis for each issue. The thematic elements our authors discover and remodel in their own work become multi-textured motifs: rich, bold, and varied as our list of authors themselves. What has been most fascinating to discover unfolding for this issue is the manner in which the Scheherazade story is spun on its edge and transformed from a story of female oppression giving rise to creativity into a story of the ultimate act of female rebellion: using her mind, instead of her body, to demonstrate her value in a situation where her body is being used to undercut her worth. Instead of relying upon her boudoir skills (a move which has proven futile in the 1000 brides preceding her), Scheherazade instead relies upon her vast knowledge of history, antiquity, philosophy and the arts to fuel over her evening stories for over 3 years—ample time to demonstrate to the king that a wife’s value is not simply the fidelity of her body, but in her intelligence and bravery. After all, Scheherazade walked into the marriage willingly, and with full knowledge of the fate of the wives who came before her—understood that the daily slaughter of the women of the land needed to come to an end, and she also believed that she would be able to achieve this end without herself becoming the 1001st wife whose head would roll.
This issue of NonBinary Review explores the frame narrative in depth: authors, poets, essayists and artists visit and examine Scheherazade’s motivations, psychic conflicts, emotions, and grief. Our contributors give voices to and lament the loss of the 1000 wives who lost their life to the king’s jealous rampage. Our essayists look at the many roles the female characters of Scheherazade’s stories take on: from emperor to victim, and everything in between. These divergent roles subtly demonstrate and teach through storytelling that just as a man is at once both everything and nothing—with the potential to become as much or as little as he wishes—a woman is exactly the same. The capacity for wickedness or virtue, cleverness or greed, power or victimhood is not, nor has it ever been, defined solely by gender. The defining power for what a person becomes is the power structure that a person operates within. While the Scheherazade of the original 1001 Arabian Nights must operate quietly, using her skills as a storyteller to move the heart of her husband into the position she needs to create a bond that will become love, the Scheherazades of this issue of NonBinary Review need no subterfuge to weave their tales into your consciousness. These women speak frankly, often angrily, and do not make excuses for their desires, their actions, their motivations, their words or their lamentations. They will not accept your pity. Instead, they wish to earn your respect. They will accept nothing less.
We hope that as you scroll to the end of the final story in this issue, you find yourself in the same position as the king: before you even know it, morning has arrived, the sun is streaming in through your window, and you’re wishing for just one more story. We hope that these stories sustain you—perhaps not for 1001 American Nights, but at least for 35.
Allie Marini

MANDEM is the art name for Maize Arendsee, an art instructor and Studio Art MFA student at Florida State University, and her life-partner, Moco Steinman-Arendsee. MANDEM’s artwork is described as an exercise in categorical violations, simulation, and narrative. With an academic background in classical mythology, gender studies, and critical theory, MANDEM works across media and materials (painting, assemblage/collage, film, sculpture, and book-making), intentionally destabilizing genre in terms of content and media. MANDEM’s artwork has been widely exhibited in art galleries and museums, and it has been featured in over 100 publications.

Erasure Suite
E. Kristin is the author of Dear Teen Me, A Guide For The Practical Abductee, A Jab Of Deep Urgency, Pray, Pray, Pray: Poems I Wrote To Prince In The Middle Of The Night and Acoustic Battery Life.

Class Action: Women vs. Shahryar
Daniel’s book One Way to Ask pairs poems with art created or curated in collaboration with 66 visual artists. Daniel works as a copywriter and blogs sporadically at FightsWithPoems.blogspot.com.

Sindibad and the Peddler
Brian has been published in Queer Sci Fi’s Discovery, NonBinary Review, Kill for a Copy, and various anthologies. Brian collaborates with Chuck Amador and Marcelo Salaza on the comic book series Empress.

Grown, Held
Eleanor was the CIWEM Young Environmental Photographer of The Year. Her photography has been published in British Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.

Scheherazadenfreude
Lukas is a queer and non-binary artist and writer currently located in Victoria, Canada. Their work has been featured in rejections from the New York Times, Plenitude Magazine, and on their website, lukasbhandar.com.

A Houri’s Hymnody
Carina writes twisted fairy tales and cross-pollinated mythic fiction. Her short fiction are at the Journal of Mythic Arts, NonBinary Review, Timeless Tales and other assorted journals and anthologies.

Beyond Scheherazade: The Powerful Women of the One Thousand and One Arabian Nights
Andrea’s poetry has appeared in NonBinary Review, Linden Avenue, Chiaroscuro (ChiZine), Strange Horizons, and Perigee. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and a Rhysling Award.

The Storyteller and the Flea and the Princess and the Djinn
Jaap is an award winning Dutch writer of science fiction, fantasy, horror, thrillers and whatever takes his fancy. Five novels and almost three hundred of his stories have been published.

Rearing
Karen has shot cover art for Vine Leaves Literary Journal, Crack the Spine and Zen Dixie. She has been featured in Artemis Journal, Cactus Heart Press, Synaesthesia, Dactyl, and Fine Flu Literary Journal.

The Good Arab?, Odalisque in Red Satin Pantaloons (After Matisse)
Dmitry’s drawings and sculptures have been exhibited at the National Arts Club, BrechtForum, ISE Cultural Foundation, and the State Russian Museum.

Forty Thieves
Robert’s poetry appears in Asimov’s, Strange Horizons, Dreams & Nightmares, and Star*Line. His first collection of poetry, Blood Wallah (Dark Regions Press) has been published and followed by Carpe Noctem (Eldritch Press).

The Tower
Terri is the author of the novels Hereafter and Thereafter. Her story “The Lady and the Unicorn” will appear in the New Hampshire Pulp Fiction Series Volume 6, Live Free or Dragons anthology (Plaidswede Publishing, Fall 2016).

The Heart is a Red Apple
Katherine’s fiction has appeared in Descant, Prairie Fire, PRISM international, The New Quarterly, Paperplates, and subTerrain. Her poetry collection Strange Labyrinth was published by Oolichan Books in 2015.

Wish Granted
Gregg is a community newspaper reporter with four decades in the trade, who boasts more than half-a-dozen prior fiction publications in the sf/fantasy/horror/mystery fields which range in length from microfic to novelette.

Bear Mountain Zuihitsu
Michelle is a poet, writer, and artist and winner of the 2015 Knopf Poetry prize, the recipient of The Critical Junior Poet’s Award. Her work appears in the Sharkpack Poetry Review, Corium, Ember, and Night Train.This piece previously appeared in Polyphony H.S.

Mirrored Women
Anjali received a grant from the Queens Council on the Arts and exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum and Dumbo Arts Festival; her work can be viewed at www.anjalideshmukh.com.

A Pardoning
Angele is author of Arab on Radar (Six Gallery Press), and Spared (A Main Street Rag Editors’ Choice Chapbook). Her poetry, fiction, and reviews have appeared in over forty journals and ten anthologies. She lives in Pittsburgh.

There’s the Rub
Jeff’s fiction is published in the Chicago Tribune’s Printers Row literary journal and Steam Ticket Third Coast Review. He is the author of The Latest Craze: A Short History of Mass Hysterias.

The Ones Who Came Before
M. Brett works for Gingerbread House. Her poems are in Stone Highway Review, Slipstream, Wind, Penduline, Cactus Heart, Exit 7, Still: the Journal, Permafrost, Scapegoat Review, and Rogue Agent.

Procrastination
Sarah’s poetry is in Arsenic Lobster, Reunion: The Dallas Review, Empty Mirror, Red Savina Review and Broad! Magazine, among others. Her chapbook Changing the Grid, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press.

The Leprechaun’s Vacation
John’s fiction appears in the recent anthologies 100 Doors to Madness, Of Stars & Science: Tales of the Multiverse, Grimm & Grimmer volume 3, Anthology of Cozy-Noir and Paranormal Horror 2.

1001 Arabian Nights and Woman-as-Intellect
David is a physician for whom fiction writing is his “second career.” His short story “Madness is in the Eye of the Beholder,” won 3rd place in a “Freaky Fiction” contest.

Scheherazade
Dina is an American writer living in Denmark. Her poetry, fiction and non-fiction has been popping up here and there. For now, find her @DinaHonour or at Wine and Cheese (Doodles).

Tale of the Dancing Girl and the Djinn
Jennifer’s work has appeared in Spindrift and NonBinary Review. She earned Honorary Mention in the Hugo House’s Quattro Spec Fiction contest for her short story “Earthbound.”

Sugared. Spiced. Salted.
Jamal has been recently published in the Middle Eastern poetry anthology Nowhere Near A Damn Rainbow, in the journal Sukoon, in Rip/Torn Collective, Fictionaut and Uncommon: Dubai.

Arousal
Margaret’s work has appeared in Pulp Literature, NonBinary Review, and Expanded Horizons. Her in-progress fairy tale, post apocalypse novel was recently awarded honorable mention in the Diverse Writers/Worlds grant.

Aladdin
David’s revised fairy tales have been published in Father Grim’s Book of Stories, Arthur King of the Ages Anthology, The Fairy Tale Whisperer, Cliterature, and in Myths, Legends, and Fairy Tales.

Tales of the Roc
Tom’s essays and book reviews have appeared in a variety of literary journals. He’s an avid birder and writes frequently about the natural world. His column appears at www.RRAS.org and his website resides at www.tomleskiw.com

A String of Pearls
Judith is an artist, writer, and monologist who studied in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She wrote Read It Back, published by Dancing Girl Press, and contributed work to Unbroken, 100 Word Story, and Petite Hound Press.

Palestina
Mohamed was born in North Carolina, raised in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank of Palestine. This short story is an excerpt from a completed novel under the same title.

28,065 Nights
Katie is the editor-in-chief of Whale Road Review and author of The Gospel of the Bleeding Woman. Her poems have been published in Fairy Tale Review, New Letters, [PANK], Poet Lore, and So to Speak.

Masjid
Brandon has been published in The Canadian Jewish News, Streeteaters, Poetica, Yalla Journal, YallaJournal.com, Jewish Tribune, The Bulletin, The Victoriad, The Trinity Review, UC Review, The Deronda Review, and many others.

Waiting in Vain
Fabiyas is the author of Moonlight and Solitude. His writing have appeared in Westerly, Forward Poetry, Literary The Hatchet, E Fiction, Structo, and in several anthologies. His poems have been broadcast on All India Radio.

City of Brass
Dagny wishes she was a writer, but is an 8th grade English teacher who can’t control her imagination. Her son is three, and her husband has a broken ankle, so it’s a miracle that she write these days at all.

Suicide Library
Jillian’s work has appeared in Heavy Feather Review, Cellar Door Anthology. She wrote Pretty the Ugly, published by ELJ Publications. She is the founder and managing editor of Villainess Press and its online journal, The Plot.

Al-Datma
Frank currently teaches English at Los Angeles Community College. His writing has appeared in a variety of publications, including 3AM, Underground Voices, and in Akashic’s Mondays Are Murder series.

O Dervish of the Restless Heart
Saba’s collection of poems Of the Divining and the Dead was published by Finishing Line Press in 2012, and her collection of poems titled Limerence is forthcoming from Chax Press.

The First Voyage
Blanca has been fascinated with cinema since she was a child, which is why she studied Film Direction. She works as a video and sound artist and also as a writer and translator for several magazines and cultural institutions.

Scheherazade Sings
Rie has written five chapbooks of poetry. Her poems have appeared in Penumbra, Illumen, The Voices Project, and Wolf Willow magazine. She has poetry in Terror Train, Bones II, and Abandoned Towers.

Night 777
Ruth is the author of The Road to Fez. Her work has appeared in many journals and anthologies. She teaches at Lehigh University and on Semester at Sea, and gives writing workshops around the world.

Mirrored Women
Purvi directed Together We Are New York, a community-based poetry project to highlight Asian American voices. Terrain Tracks is her award-winning book of poetry. Discover her work at http://purvipoets.net or @PurviPoets.

It’s A Question of Blame
Jen’s work has appeared in NonBinary Review, Stirring, and Wood Becomes Bone. Upcoming work will be featured in Menacing Hedge, Cider Press Review, the Northern Virginia Review, and by Luna Luna Magazine.

Preface
Jaz is a poet and the slammaster of the Berkeley Slam. She was the 2015 Berkeley Grand Slam Champ, as well as representing San Francisco at the 2013 Women of the World Poetry Slam. She was in the Cry of the Nightbird anthology.

1001 Songs
Cetoria is a poet and writer originally from South Georgia. Her work has appeared in Fairy Tale Review, Southern Women’s Review, and online at LADYGUNN, HelloGiggles, McSweeney’s and various other publications.

East Texas, Twilight
Robin is the author of bindweed & crow poison: small poems of stray girls, fierce women. Other work has appeared in Anima Poetry, Red River Review, Referential Magazine, and elsewhere.

The Vengeance of Sage Duban
DJ runs Atlantean Publishing has published in Dialect Poetry, Memento Mori, Bones, Cyaegha, Carillon, The Pen, Scifaikuest, Tigershark and Anthology 29, and online on Poetry Bulawayo, Poetry Pacific, and others.

The Echoes of Eons
John’s most recent credentials include short fiction in Spark and the collections We Were Heroes and Temporary Skeletons. John is an editor at Bedlam Publishing. You can read more of John’s work at keppiehed.com

How We Demonize Each Other
Lenore’s collections include Tap Dancing on the Silverado Trail, Sh’ma Yis’rael, Cutting Down the Last Tree on Easter Island and Two Places.

Uriel
Timothy is a writer/artist living in the Catskill Mountains of upstate NY, whose art is displayed with Yessey and No Bull Art online and some of which will be featured in forthcoming issues of Horrorzine Magazine.

NBR #6: The 1001 Arabian Nights

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NBR #6: The 1001 Arabian Nights

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