"KATARTICO" by Steno Artico (previous work is in a self-pub'd queer erotica zine XYWYX). This is a bilingual minizine that discusses gay relationships and the complexity of that isolation or lack of romance in the ones people settle for. The poems are presented (each in a different font) in Italian and English. It is a very beautiful book to read and starts out with the unforgettable debut of "Devi scrivere. Devi innamorarti. /  You must write. You must fall in love.". Steno describes this work with "As the title says, this zine is a means of catharsis. An exorcism of pain. I hope someday to write brighter verses than these. This work features topics such as mental illness, explicit gay sexuality and intimacy (or lack thereof)." Most of the gay poetry I tend to read or experience is about sapphic relationships or lesbianism, and it's always great to read about the experiences of others outside of those specific circles.  I really love the reflection that capitalism has such a strong influence over the isolation that develops around gayness in unique ways that the "standard" of heterosexual isolation doesn't necessarily experience. It's not just singularly interesting because it's bilingual, gayness between men, or filled with varied pages and illustrations. It's interesting because it tackles forms of loneliness, shame, inexperience, mistakes, learning, uncertainty, distance, compromise, expectation, and feeling out-of-place. The more complex realities that develop for some LGBTQ+ people who don't feel an alignment between their experiences and dominant narratives. For people outside of the dominance of (white) American, Canadian, British, and/or Australian cultural standards or experiences with gayness/transness. The illustrations are hand drawn and clearly of a very personal nature. Some of them are erotic, but most of them visually explore the darker relationships gayness influences between a mind and its body. It's a beautiful translation, with far fewer mistakes than the author was worried about. It's personal, expressive, illustrated, and nothing like the gay narratives you've come to expected from palatable market dominance. Thank you to Steno for sharing, hope to see more bilingual collections of translations from you in the future!

"È un'altra serata del cazzo                                                         "It's another fucking night
al Cassero.                                                                                            at Cassero LGBT center.
Lì i corpi balllano                                                                               There bodies dance               
una lingua che non capisco.                                                         a language that I don't understand.
La musica li attraversa                                                                  The music passes through them
e li rende magnetici,                                                                       And makes them magnetic,        
magici."                                                                                                   Magical."

[CW // 18+, nsfw, self harm, death, mental illness]