Reading Room

Fiction Contest 2022: The Winners

Fiction Contest 2022: The Winners

The results are finally here! Here are the three winning fiction pieces as selected by our esteemed judge, Shashi Bhat. A major congrats to these three writers! ---   Room Magazine’s 2022 Fiction Contest Winners First Place: Mermaid’s Tears, by Hannah Brown...

Transcendent Expectation

Transcendent Expectation

“Transcendent Expectation” is the Third Place winner for Room’s 2022 Fiction Contest. Of this piece, judge Shashi Bhat writes: "Transcendent Expectation is a story about a modest prayer on a family road trip, felt deeply by its young protagonist. This piece is...

Review of Narinjah: The Bitter Orange Tree

Review of Narinjah: The Bitter Orange Tree

Alharthi’s work is careful and honest, written with respect for this grandmother character and the familial gravitas she represents. While the readers may feel a tinge of sadness for Bint Aamir and the life she could have lived, there is solace in knowing Zohour’s carries on.

We Climbed Up Glaciers

We Climbed Up Glaciers

Houses have smells, everyone knows that— mine is musty, mothballs and soup. This house has high arches and walls of windows and paintings of mountains, but its smell is like a new car. Aluminum, and cleaning fluid. Lonely like a showroom. Our girlish voices echo in the gallery.

Fiction Contest 2022: The Shortlist

Fiction Contest 2022: The Shortlist

It's finally here! Congrats to the following six writers who were shortlisted by our judge, Shashi Bhat, for our 2022 Fiction Contest! ------ Room Magazine's 2022 Fiction Contest Shortlist Fuzzy Peaches, by Kelly Pedro Mermaid’s Tears, by Hannah Brown  The Mother...

Review of Manikanetish

Review of Manikanetish

Originally published in French by Mémoire d’encrier in 2017, Manikanetish is the second novel by Innu writer Naomi Fontaine. A finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award, it now appears in English-language translation by Luise von Flotow, a professor at the University of Ottawa’s School of Translation and Interpretation. 

Tipping Point: Letter from the Editor

Tipping Point: Letter from the Editor

I find this in the words of these authors—as they speak to the generosity of nature, and the changes taking place in our climate. As they delve into their interior lives and make demands for repair, stability, and rest. Their writing contemplates moments of breaking that bring us all much closer, or much further away from the future that we desire. 

Becoming

Becoming

& the sea turns on itself, cracks the coveted

scales, bait & hook, leaves bones for the hungry

slides its rough back against home

Cover Art Contest 2021: Third Place

Cover Art Contest 2021: Third Place

This piece is the third place winner for the 2021 Cover Art Contest, as judged by Chief Lady Bird. THIRD PLACE: It’s Complicated, by Laura Silva "El hombre es Dios cuando crea. Years ago an esteemed teacher told me this while discussing art. It translates to “humans...

Cover Art Contest 2021: Second Place

Cover Art Contest 2021: Second Place

This piece is the second place winner for the 2021 Cover Art Contest, as judged by Chief Lady Bird. SECOND PLACE: 莫(Mò), by Kyla Yin "莫(Mò) represents absence. Something that isn’t there or isn’t able to be done. I was first drawn to this idea when the Chinese...

Pre-order our next issue

ROOM 48.2 TRAVELLERS

In ROOM 48.2 TRAVELLERS we reflect, dream, manifest. Join us in these human ways of time-travelling, from infancy to the future, through relationships and into surreal realms.

Currently on Newsstands

ROOM 47.4 FULL CIRCLE
Step back with Room into the past, to parents, to childhood homes, and to people once known and loved; dig into themes of grief and healing; and ultimately explore what it means to come full circle in literature.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Be the first to know about our contests, calls for submissions, and upcoming events.

* indicates required

Join us on Patreon

Become a RoomMate

Seeking members who love literature, events, merchandise, and supporting marginalized creators.


Visit our Store