xo Orpheus: Fifty New Myths is a 2013 anthology edited by Kate Bernheimer. It is a collection of stories based on older myths and fairy tales, billed as a "new way of mythmaking." The book was nominated for the 2014 World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology.
Contents +TitleAuthorOriginal MythAnthropogenesis Or: How to Make a FamilyLaura van den BergNorse Creation mythArgosJoy WilliamsArgosThe SistersSabina MurrayBacchantesSawdustEdward CareyBaucis and PhilemonFriend RobinMaile ChapmanBrowniesThe Veiled ProphetDavid B.The Caliph of One Thousand and One NightsHenry and BoobooElanor DymottCandaules and GygesModern CoyoteShane JonesCoyote mythsDevouringsAimee BenderCronosLabyrinthRon Currie Jr.DaedalusThe Last Flight of DaedalusAnthony MarraDaedalusDaphneDawn RaffelDaphneDemeterMaile MeloyDemeterKid CollinsWilly VlautinDemeter and PersephoneSleeping BeautyGina OchsnerErisGalateaMadeline MillerGalatea and PygmalionThe HandManuel MuñozGod and SatanThe DummyBenjamin PercyGolem and PygmalionThe Girl with the Talking ShadowKate BernheimerHadesWait and SeeEdith PearlmanHuman PentachromatsAn Occasional IcarusGeorges-Olivier ChâteaureynaudIcarusKillcropVictor LaValleKillcropThe Squid Who Fell in Love with the SunBen LooryKrakenBirdsong from the RadioElizabeth McCrackenLamiaThe Lotus EatersAurelie SheehanLotus-eatersSlavesElizabeth EvansMaenads and Sinbad the SailorDrona's DeathMax GladstoneMahabharataSo Many-Headed GatesSheila HetiMonstersThe Status of MythKelly Braffet and Owen KingEdith Wharton's MythologyNarcissusZachary MasonNarcissusBack to BlandonMichael Jeffrey LeeOdysseusThe Story I Am Speaking to You NowDavis SchneidermanOdysseusThe Brigadier-General Takes His Final Stand, by James ButtImad RahmanOedipusDark ResortHeidi JulavitsOrpheus and EurydiceMystery Spot: 95065Karen Tei YamashitaParadiseLost LakeEmma Straub and Peter StraubPersephoneWhat Wants My SonKevin WilsonPhaetonThousandLaird HuntPoseidonBelle-MedusaManuela DraegerPost-apocalypseThe Swan's WifeAamer HusseinRaja RasaluSannaKathryn DavisSednaMadame LiangLutz BassmannSirinSissyKit ReedSisyphusIn a Structure Simulating an OwlAnder MonsonStrixCat's EyeDonají OlmedoTezcatlipocaBetrayalSigrid NunezTransformationA Horse, a VineJohanna SkibsrudTrojan HorseThe Hungers of an Old LanguageBrian AldissThe UnconsciousThe White HorseSarah BlackmanZeus and Europa
Reception
Publishers Weekly called the book an "ingenious new anthology of boundless imagination". The review concluded that these "enthralling contemporary myths are bold stories of love, loss, friendship, disaster and everything in between."
A review in Time Out praised Bernheimer's wide selection of stories, writing that the collection "[ranges] from archaic and straightforward to contemporary and experimental—without repeating tone or genre."
The book was nominated for the 2014 World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology.
References