Reading Room

Mother Earth at the bar

Truth be told, sometimes she gets bored of the bowing down, all that blessing her with gentle hands. Come night she wants to wade through a mess of hips and eyes Truth be told, sometimes she gets bored of the bowing down, all that blessing her with gentle hands. Come...

To China With Love

One of the honourable mentions in our 2006 fiction contest. Christine wore her headphones all twelve hours of the flight to China. She didn’t want to tell her story to the stranger beside her, and she didn’t want to lie. She couldn’t say: “I’m going to China to meet a...

In The Balance

One of the honourable mentions for our fiction 2006 contest. The road is a series of twists and turns past parched fields and pine and the occasional scrawl of building. Three more hours at most, and we'll arrive at our destination on the Italian Mediterranean. “Are...

2006 Contest Winners Announced

Congratulations to the following finalists in Room's 2006 Poetry and Fiction Contest! The winning pieces have been published in issues 30.1. The honourable mentions are available online (click the links below).Poetry:1st place:"Cousin"Myrna GaranisEdmonton, Alberta2nd...

Cousin

yeah, I’d say he was surprised to see me, out of my loop, so to speak, so was he, my cousin Mel in a small-town hospital, playing patient, not doing a good job either, his big-boat Buick poised in the lot for getaway yeah, I’d say he was surprised to see me, out of my...

Seedlings

Our 2005 fiction contest winner, "Seedlings" by Helyn Wohlwend of Cobble Hill, BC. I get too excited about spring. That’s what Peter says. “Lila, you just get too excited about spring.” But he smiles when he says it, so I know he doesn’t really mind. And, of course,...

Into Grains of Sand

The 2nd place poetry winner of our 2005 contest, "Into Grains of Sand" by Zoya Harris of Vancouver, BC. I. Your dog sleeps on the back seat, a blanket spread below his dream-twitches like the blue night spreads across the open road. I can’t imagine you beside me, a...

Overwintering

The winner of our 2005 Poetry Contest. And see how the flesh grows back across a wound, with a great vehemence, more strong. —Jane Hirshfield I. She hovers by the filament lamp hard pellet in her abdomen and watches in the blackness his feet swallowed up in rough...

Alive

Under the knife blade, my mother’s broken hand in a sling, purple peel strips off over the face of the counter. Under the knife blade, my mother’s broken hand in a sling, purple peel strips off over the face of the counter. Her cheek, swollen, is marked by a bruise,...

2005 Contest Winners Announced

Congratulations to the following finalists in Room's 2005 Poetry and Fiction Contest! The winning pieces are available online (click the links below).Poetry:First place:"Overwintering"Vicki Goodfellow DukeCalgary, ABSecond place:"Into Grains of Sand"Zoya...

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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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