We invite you to submit your unpublished work to the “Audacity” issue of Room—an issue we hope will dare to risk normalcy and politeness in the name of bold and uncompromising truth.

“Audacity” will be edited by Molly Cross-Blanchard (author of Exhibitionist) and assistant edited by Karmella Cen Benedito De Barros, with shadow editors Ellen Chang-Richardson and Michelle Ha. The team will be looking for poetry, prose, black-and-white art and photographs, and mixed-genre/hybrid writing that goes against convention and tradition in favour of the uncensored, unfiltered, and decolonial.

We want you to show us what “Audacity” means to you. Maybe it stirs up some negative emotions, like the way a politician has the audacity to inflict harm, or a man has the audacity to explain kickboxing to the woman about to teach the class. But the writing we’re most interested in explores transformative audaciousness: the unapologetic embracing of the self, warts and all. Is it audacious to be naked? To use your body and let your body be used, however you want? To block an intersection with a sacred fire and sing? Is it audacious to be joyful and steady despite all the bullshit? To admit defeat? To say “fuck” in front of a child, or to tuck them in and read them a story even though no one ever did it for you? However you interpret our theme, the one aspect these submissions should have in common is bravery. This shouldn’t be easy, or comfortable; change never is.

Before submitting, please read our About section to see if your work fits within Room’s mandate, then refer to the Submission Guidelines on how to format your work. We are an international feminist magazine, and encourage writing and art submitted to us from all over the world.

Underrepresented writers—including but not exclusive to women, trans men, Two Spirit and non-binary writers who are Black, Indigenous, people of colour, queer, and/or disabled—are particularly encouraged to submit.

DEADLINE EXTENDED: January 31st, 2022