[2] The e-zine was originally started by Stevens as a joke; its name is an ironic allusion to the many literary magazines which use the title formula "X Creek (or River) Review," and a play on the Australian colloquialism "Up Shit Creek in a barbed wire canoe without a paddle" (to be in serious difficulties), famously said by Australian comedian Barry Humphries's ocker persona Barry McKenzie.
Stevens was editor-in-chief of the first ten issues until health problems caused him to step down in late 2009, at which time he was replaced by Rose Kelleher.
[5] Poets who have published in The Shit Creek Review include Larry L. Fontenot,[6] Rachel Bunting,[7] Kirk Knesset,[8] John Milbury-Steen,[9] Janet Kenny,[10] Tammy Ho Lai-Ming,[11] Julie Carter,[citation needed] Eve Anthony Hanninen,[12] Robert Clawson,[13] and C.P.
[citation needed] The Shit Creek Review spawned a sub-zine called II which was more text-based (less emphasis on the art).
In October 2007, II separated from The Shit Creek Review and was renamed The Chimaera, edited by Paul Stevens and Peter Bloxsom of NetPublish.
The Chimaera publishes verse, short stories, articles, essays, and interviews with prominent or rising poets, including Alison Brackenbury, John Whitworth, R. S. Gwynn, and Stephen Edgar.