Making Room: Forty Years of Room Magazine
celebrates the history and evolution of Canadian literature and feminism with some of the most exciting and thought-provoking fiction, poetry, and essays the magazine has published since it was founded in 1975 as
Room of One’s Own
. This collection includes poems about men not to be fallen in love with, trans womanhood, the morning-after pill, the “mind fuck” of being raped by a romantic partner, and a tribute to the women who were murdered in the Montreal Massacre. In one story, a group of sexual assault survivors meet weekly and come up with an unique way to help police capture their assailant, while in another a dinner party turns to witty talk of racism, sexism, pornography, and time travel. One author recounts how she learned multiple languages in order to connect with her father, another reluctantly walks down the aisle in order to stay in Canada with the man she loves. For forty years,
Room
has created a space for diverse voices. As Amber Dawn says in her opening essay, “There is
. We do fit.”
Contributors include Carol Shields, Audrey Thomas, Marian Engel, M. NourbeSe Philip, Carmen Aguirre, Eden Robinson, Daphne Marlatt, Dorothy Livesay, Ayelet Tsabari, Ivan Coyote, Tracey Lindberg, Sina Queyras, Evelyn Lau, Jen Sookfong Lee, Gail Anderson-Dargatz, and more. With forewords by Eleanor Wachtel and Amber Dawn, interviews with four former
editors, and an afterword by
Room’
s current publisher and managing editor.