Thank you for considering Room for the publication of your original short stories, poems, creative non-fiction, or art. Room publishes work by people of all marginalized genders, including cis and trans women, trans men, nonbinary and Two-Spirit people. Visit https://roommagazine.com for more!


Submission Periods

Unsolicited submissions to Room are free, and make up over 90% of our published submissions. We open for submissions four times a year. 

March 47.4: closed

May 48.1 HUMOUR: closed

Aug 48.2: closed

Nov 48.3 REST/UNREST: open as of November 15, 2024.

Submission periods are open for approximately 4-6 weeks, and will close once the submission limit is reached, and will not open again until the following submission period.

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Before submitting please see here for our genre submissions guidelines

We also strongly suggest you get a sense of our tastes by reviewing material we've published in recent issues—buy newsstand copies, subscribe, borrow from a library, or visit our latest edition online. Alternatively, you can order single copies of specific issues, including soldout digital exclusives for just $10.

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Contests

Our Short Forms Contest is currently open! 

Visit our contests page for more information about our contests.

This form is for "Canadian writers." Please use this form if you live within Canadian territories and provinces, or are a Canadian resident who lives overseas. Since our eligibility for national and local grants depends on a majority of our published content being Canadian, we kindly request that only Canadian writers use this form.

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Room Magazine invites you to submit your writing to our Issue 48.3: Rest/Unrest, edited by Rachel Thompson, alongside Assistant Editor Holly Lam, and Shadow Editors Katie Stobbart and Hamdah Shabbir

Pause. Breathe. Reflect. Resist. Then Submit to Room 48.3:
In Rest/Unrest, we’ll unravel the forces and structures denying us rest and celebrate the act of reclaiming it. Send us your stories, poems, and hybrid pieces on moments of pause, sacred naps, and rebelling against our hyper-productive world. Editors Rachel Thompson, Holly Lam, Hamdah Shabbir, and Katie Stobbart welcome writing on burnout, rest as resistance, hibernation, fallow periods, reclaiming time, and your unique interpretations of rest/unrest. Submit your best work in any genre that lies down within literary tradition and rises against it.

Submissions open November 15th and will be accepted on a rolling basis until we reach our submissions limit.  


Guidelines:

  • Before submitting, please read about us to see if your work fits within Room’s mandate.
  • Your entry must be original and unpublished (in print or online)
  • We accept submissions upto 3500 words. Longer submissions will be rejected automatically.
  • Please submit in 12 point font. Times New Roman preferred but not required. 
  • We gladly accept simultaneous submissions. If another publication accepts your work for publication, please notify us and withdraw your piece immediately.
  • Please do not send a second submission in the same genre until you have heard back from us considering the first one (Note: You may enter our contests and submit a regular submission at the same time so long as the materials are different.)


 

This form is for "Canadian writers." Please use this form if you live within Canadian territories and provinces, or are a Canadian resident who lives overseas. Since our eligibility for national and local grants depends on a majority of our published content being Canadian, we kindly request that only Canadian writers use this form.

_______

Room Magazine invites you to submit your writing to our Issue 48.3: Rest/Unrest, edited by Rachel Thompson, alongside Assistant Editor Holly Lam, and Shadow Editors Katie Stobbart and Hamdah Shabbir

Pause. Breathe. Reflect. Resist. Then Submit to Room 48.3: In Rest/Unrest, we’ll unravel the forces and structures denying us rest and celebrate the act of reclaiming it. Send us your stories, poems, and hybrid pieces on moments of pause, sacred naps, and rebelling against our hyper-productive world. Editors Rachel Thompson, Holly Lam, Hamdah Shabbir, and Katie Stobbart welcome writing on burnout, rest as resistance, hibernation, fallow periods, reclaiming time, and your unique interpretations of rest/unrest. Submit your best work in any genre that lies down within literary tradition and rises against it. Submissions open November 15th and will be accepted on a rolling basis until we reach our submissions limit. 

___

Guidelines:

  • Your entry must be original and unpublished (in print or online)
  • We accept submissions upto 3500 words. Longer submissions will be rejected automatically.
  • Please submit in 12 point font. Times New Roman preferred but not required. 
  • We gladly accept simultaneous submissions. If another publication accepts your work for publication, please notify us and withdraw your piece immediately.
  • Please do not send a second submission in the same genre until you have heard back from us considering the first one (Note: You may enter our contests and submit a regular submission at the same time so long as the materials are different.)
     

This form is for "Canadian writers." Please use this form if you live within Canadian territories and provinces, or are a Canadian resident who lives overseas. Since our eligibility for national and local grants depends on a majority of our published content being Canadian, we kindly request that only Canadian writers use this form.

__________


Room Magazine invites you to submit your writing to our Issue 48.3: Rest/Unrest, edited by Rachel Thompson, alongside Assistant Editor Holly Lam, and Shadow Editors Katie Stobbart and Hamdah Shabbir

Pause. Breathe. Reflect. Resist. Then Submit to Room 48.3: In Rest/Unrest, we’ll unravel the forces and structures denying us rest and celebrate the act of reclaiming it. Send us your stories, poems, and hybrid pieces on moments of pause, sacred naps, and rebelling against our hyper-productive world. Editors Rachel Thompson, Holly Lam, Hamdah Shabbir, and Katie Stobbart welcome writing on burnout, rest as resistance, hibernation, fallow periods, reclaiming time, and your unique interpretations of rest/unrest. Submit your best work in any genre that lies down within literary tradition and rises against it. Submissions open November 15th and will be accepted on a rolling basis until we reach our submissions limit. 

 

Guidelines:

  • Your entry must be original and unpublished (in print or online)
  • We accept upto 5 poems, submitted in a single file. Please start each poem on a new page. 
  • We gladly accept simultaneous submissions. If another publication accepts your work for publication, please notify us using Submittable's 'message' function (preferred) or at submissions@roommagazine.com.   
  • Please do not send a second submission in the same genre until you have heard back from us considering the first one (Note: You may enter our contests and submit a regular submission at the same time so long as the materials are different.)


 


 


 

Room Magazine invites you to submit your writing to our Issue 48.3: Rest/Unrest, edited by Rachel Thompson, alongside Assistant Editor Holly Lam, and Shadow Editors Katie Stobbart and Hamdah Shabbir

Pause. Breathe. Reflect. Resist. Then Submit to Room 48.3: In Rest/Unrest, we’ll unravel the forces and structures denying us rest and celebrate the act of reclaiming it. Send us your stories, poems, and hybrid pieces on moments of pause, sacred naps, and rebelling against our hyper-productive world. Editors Rachel Thompson, Holly Lam, Hamdah Shabbir, and Katie Stobbart welcome writing on burnout, rest as resistance, hibernation, fallow periods, reclaiming time, and your unique interpretations of rest/unrest. Submit your best work in any genre that lies down within literary tradition and rises against it. 

In our art submissions, we are seeking works of glitches, surrealism, paper collage, photography, mixed-materials, and fabric-based art that supports our desire to knit together all the literary pieces we uncover during our submissions call.

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Guidelines

- These are not images to illustrate accompanying writing, but submissions of their own standing. 

- Here is a collection of art that has recently appeared in our pages. Please take a look before submitting. 

- Submit up to five images (maximum of 1MB sized JPG or PDF) with a short paragraph about the work of art including: the title, size, medium and date. You can also direct us to your work online in your bio.

This form is for international writers. If you are a "Canadian" writer (if you reside within Canada or have Canadian citizenship but live abroad, please submit to our Canadian writers' submissions form)

__

Room Magazine invites you to submit your writing to our Issue 48.3: Rest/Unrest, edited by Rachel Thompson, alongside Assistant Editor Holly Lam, and Shadow Editors Katie Stobbart and Hamdah Shabbir

Pause. Breathe. Reflect. Resist. Then Submit to Room 48.3: In Rest/Unrest, we’ll unravel the forces and structures denying us rest and celebrate the act of reclaiming it. Send us your stories, poems, and hybrid pieces on moments of pause, sacred naps, and rebelling against our hyper-productive world. Editors Rachel Thompson, Holly Lam, Hamdah Shabbir, and Katie Stobbart welcome writing on burnout, rest as resistance, hibernation, fallow periods, reclaiming time, and your unique interpretations of rest/unrest. Submit your best work in any genre that lies down within literary tradition and rises against it. 

Submissions open November 15th and will be accepted on a rolling basis until we reach our submissions limit. 
-------


Guidelines:

  • Your entry must be original and unpublished (in print or online)
  • We accept submissions upto 3500 words. Longer submissions will be rejected automatically.
  • Please submit in 12 point font. Times New Roman preferred but not required. 
  • We gladly accept simultaneous submissions. If another publication accepts your work for publication, please notify us and withdraw your piece immediately.
  • Please do not send a second submission in the same genre until you have heard back from us considering the first one (Note: You may enter our contests and submit a regular submission at the same time so long as the materials are different.)


 


This form is for international writers. If you are a "Canadian" writer (if you reside within Canada or have Canadian citizenship but live abroad, please submit to our Canadian writers' submissions form)

_______

Room Magazine invites you to submit your writing to our Issue 48.3: Rest/Unrest, edited by Rachel Thompson, alongside Assistant Editor Holly Lam, and Shadow Editors Katie Stobbart and Hamdah Shabbir

Pause. Breathe. Reflect. Resist. Then Submit to Room 48.3: In Rest/Unrest, we’ll unravel the forces and structures denying us rest and celebrate the act of reclaiming it. Send us your stories, poems, and hybrid pieces on moments of pause, sacred naps, and rebelling against our hyper-productive world. Editors Rachel Thompson, Holly Lam, Hamdah Shabbir, and Katie Stobbart welcome writing on burnout, rest as resistance, hibernation, fallow periods, reclaiming time, and your unique interpretations of rest/unrest. Submit your best work in any genre that lies down within literary tradition and rises against it. Submissions open November 15th and will be accepted on a rolling basis until we reach our submissions limit.
____

 

Guidelines:

  • Your entry must be original and unpublished (in print or online)
  • We accept submissions upto 3500 words. Longer submissions will be rejected automatically.
  • Please submit in 12 point font. Times New Roman preferred but not required. 
  • We gladly accept simultaneous submissions. If another publication accepts your work for publication, please notify us and withdraw your piece immediately.
  • Please do not send a second submission in the same genre until you have heard back from us considering the first one (Note: You may enter our contests and submit a regular submission at the same time so long as the materials are different.)

 

EXTENDED DEADLINE: DECEMBER 15

FIRST PRIZE: $500 + publication in Room 

SECOND PRIZE: $350 + publication in Room 

HONOURABLE MENTION: $150 + publication on Room's website


 

ENTRY FEES AND PRICING

All first submissions include a one-year subscription to Room and our contest fees are the same as our regular subscription prices (your fees go right into making our magazine, we source our prize money and judge honorariums from other sources)

Entry fees include shipping and are based on the address associated with your Submittable account, as this is where your subscription will be shipped: 

  • If you reside in Canada: $39 CAD
  • If you reside in the US: $49 CAD
  • If you reside outside North America: $59 CAD
  • Additional entries are $7 CAD and do not come with another subscription. You must submit an initial entry before submitting an additional entry. If you submit an additional entry without first submitting an initial entry, your additional entry may be disqualified without refund.
  • Under "Fee," select the correct payment amount from the drop-down menu. You must choose the appropriate submission fee option, or your piece may be disqualified. No refunds are provided for selecting the incorrect fee option. 


 

CONTEST RULES & GUIDELINES

  • Your entry can be in any genre up to 500 words: one or two prose poems, flash fictions, flash creative non-fictions, or hybrid pieces.
  • Unless form requires, submit your work in 12-point font, Times New Roman preferred.
  • Authors are not required to clarify the genre(s) they are writing in. All pieces submitted will be considered on their individual merit as standalone pieces. All submissions, regardless of genre, will be judged in a single category.  
  • You can only upload ONE document (.pdf, .doc, or .docx preferred; can also accept .rtf) per submission on Submittable, so you must submit your entire poetry submission in one file. 
  • Submissions must be anonymous—please do not include your name or personal details anywhere in your document, including the file name. You will have a chance to include your contact information on the Submittable form. Cover letters and bios are not necessary and will not be forwarded to the judge.
  • Each entry must be original and unpublished.
  • We accept simultaneous submissions, but if your submission is accepted elsewhere, please notify us and withdraw your submission immediately. 
  • Room's contests are open to women (cisgender and transgender), transgender men, Two-Spirit and nonbinary people. We specifically encourage writers with overlapping under-represented identities to submit their work.
  • Previously commissioned Room writers are disqualified from entering the contest.
  • Any submission that does not meet these guidelines will be disqualified. The submission fee is non-refundable. 
  • Please direct any questions or concerns to contests@roommagazine.com.
Room