Room Magazine Contests

Arts disciplines: 

Room is Canada’s oldest feminist literary journal, and has published fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, art, interviews, and book reviews for forty years. Published quarterly by the West Coast Feminist Literary Magazine Society, also known as the Growing Room Collective, Room showcases writing and art by women (cisgender and transgender), transgender men, Two-Spirit and nonbinary people. We believe in publishing emerging writers alongside established authors, and because of this, approximately 90% of the work we publish comes from unsolicited submissions or contest entries.

Contest Dates

Creative Non-Fiction | *NOW OPEN* April 1 - June 1
Poetry | Open June 15 - August 15
Short Forms | September 1 - November 1
Cover Art | November 15 - January 15
Fiction | January 8 - March 8

Creative Non-fiction Contest

FIRST PRIZE: $500 + publication in Room
SECOND PRIZE: $250 + publication in Room
HONOURABLE MENTION: $50 publication on Room's website

Entry fee includes a one-year subscription to Room, beginning with issue 42.3 (September 2019).

Poetry Contest

FIRST PRIZE: $1,000 + publication in Room
SECOND PRIZE: $250 + publication in Room
HONOURABLE MENTION: $50 publication on Room's website

Entry fee includes a one-year subscription to Room, beginning with issue 42.4 (December 2019).

Short Forms Contest

FIRST PRIZE: $500 + publication (2 prizes)
HONOURABLE MENTION: $50 publication on Room's website

Each entry can consist of one or two prose poems, flash fictions, or flash creative non-fiction works of up to 500 words. Authors are not required to clarify which genre(s) they are writing in, as long as each work is 500 words or less. All submissions, regardless of genre, will be judged in a single category, and two prizes of $500 will be awarded. Winners will be published in our June 2019 issue.

Cover Art Contest

FIRST PRIZE: $500 + publication on the cover of Room 42.2
SECOND PRIZE: $50 + publication in Room 42.2
HONOURABLE MENTION: publication on Room's website

One cover art contest entry includes up to three images and corresponding artist statement(s). All winners will be published with an artist statement and have the option to submit additional artwork for the issue, which, if selected for publication, will be compensated for at our usual rates. Guidelines for the art contest can be found at the bottom of the page.

Fiction Contest

Our 2019 fiction contest is now closed. The annual fiction contest will open again on January 8, 2020.

FIRST PRIZE: $1,000 + publication in Room
SECOND PRIZE: $250 + publication in Room
HONOURABLE MENTION: $50 publication on Room's website

Entry fee includes a one-year subscription to Room, beginning with issue 42.2 (June 2019).

General Guidelines

  • Room's contests are open to women, trans, two-spirited, and genderqueer people.
  • Each entry must be original, unpublished, not submitted or accepted elsewhere for publication or previously to Room, and not entered simultaneously in any other contest.
  • For entrants residing in Canada, each first entry cost $35 CAD to enter, and $7 CAD for each additional entry. For international entrants (anyone with an address outside of Canada): $42 USD, and $7 USD. All first submissions include a one-year subscription to Room. Additional entries do not include an additional free subscription. (Current subscribers will be given an extension on their subscription.)
  • We only use Submittable, a secure online submissions management tool, to manage our submissions. For more information about using Submittable, please check our Submissions page.
  • Judging will be blind. Please ensure that your name or any personal details are not included in your submission document; this includes the file name. (You will have a chance to include your contact information on the Submittable form).
  • Cover letters are not necessary and will not be forwarded to the judge.
  • Previously commissioned Room writers (writers who have been featured on the cover of an issue) and contest judges are barred from participating in subsequent contests at Room.