alongside Bella Kotak

Photography by Yinsey Wang One of her best known associations is with the hero of Homer’s epic tale The Odyssey. As Odysseus and his seafaring companions try to find their way home after the long Trojan War, they end up landing on the island of Aeaea, Circe’s domain. She punishes the crew’s trespass by transforming many of them into swine. Odysseus is the exception.

Creativity brings life an endless array of possibilities. Many of us find solace in fairy tales and fantasy as ways to escape from the confines of the everyday; such worlds can form the basis of new dreamscapes, beginnings, and self-discovery. They can even inspire change and influence our actual lived experiences. But what if the narratives that dominate these stories in the mainstream do not represent the diversity of the world we live in today?