Reading Room

Wells

The north sea speaks carefully around a mouthful of flints. ~ The beach is a buzzard feast, salted carnage. Miles upon miles of razor clams, caught by the headland, butterfly open under a cacophony of gulls. This is not the image you had held of this place, but it is...

Teaching an Old Dog

Every afternoon my dog takes me for a walk. We begin by getting very excited running circles of gratitude in the hallway for the mere idea of walking. Once outside, she makes me practice my lessons. Run as fast as you can for no reason. Chase things you have no hope...

Dostoevsky

He was a man unconvinced by pancakes. He said that as she licked the syrup off her fingertips, Funny, it happened all the time, though she never touched He was a man unconvinced by pancakes. He said that as she licked the syrup off her fingertips, Funny, it happened...

The End of Marriage

When snow is falling it’s possible you’ll feel listless. Snow, after all, smothers everything, street signs, garden lanterns, the sad hump of the dog buried in the yard three years ago, what you can and cannot see. When snow is falling it’s possible you’ll feel...

Behind the Glass

The honourable mention in our 2009 creative non-fiction contest, judged by Deborah Campbell. Some men go through a transition stage in their mid-thirties, settling in or moving on to something or someone new. For women, it's earlier. By their thirties they've...

2008 Contest Winners Announced

Congratulations to the winners of Room’s 2008 Fiction, Poetry, and Creative Non-Fiction Contest! We were thoroughly impressed with the quality of this year’s submissions, and extend our congratulations to all contestants for sharing your best efforts with us. Look for...

Lakeshore

Arriving at the lakeshore one morning I came upon a poem Arriving at the lakeshore one morning I came upon a poem not of pristine sailboats cutting into precise horizons nor of the watercolour sunrise, nor even of the sound the water makes as it drags itself like...

Bliss

The island, thirty-five minutes by air off the coast of Belize, is too small for anything like a runway. The island, thirty-five minutes by air off the coast of Belize, is too small for anything like a runway. Instead it offers ‘a place to land’, a slice of cracked...

2007 Contest Winners Announced

Congratulations to the following finalists in Room's 2007 Poetry and Fiction Contest!Poetry:1st place:"Larger than Life"Pam Calabrese MacLean2nd place:"MIracle of Language"Patricia YoungHonourable Mention"A Short History of Swings"Patricia YoungFiction:1st...

I Visited the Grand Canyon

There is no point in describing a man who traverses Nova Scotia on a ten-speed bike with a concertina strapped to his back, is there? Let’s just say that Randy was resourceful, which is why he answered my ad in the first place. There is no point in describing a man...

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Cover image for Room Magazine Issue 49.2, Science. Art by Candace Cosentino of an old-fashioned computer monitor with a bounty of dandelions growing from it.

ROOM 49.2 SCIENCE

I hope this issue makes you curious and furious, leads to 2 a.m. Wikipedia rabbit holes, fulfills urges to seek out knowledge-keepers. Quickly or slowly, dive in: -ologies of all varieties await you.

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ROOM 49.1 No Future for Who?

In Room Magazine 49.1 No Future for Who?, we are really asking. We are coming in hot. We are causing a scene. We are being unreasonable. We are not fucking around. We are not taking “no” for an answer. “No” is the only word we still know. For who? For who? No.

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