Volume 25:1 & 2

Celebration

“Of course, there are those who are offended by the idea that women's literature is a distinct category, maybe because of the implicit suggestion that it is of lesser value than men's literature or can be appreciated only by other women.

“Does any of this make Room irrelevant? Hardly. Room doesn't revolve around the idea that women's literature is different from that produced by men, though in my mind it is (after all, equal does not mean the same as). Rather, it's about providing a forum for women to explore a whole array of issues and themes and voices. And, while it may be easier for women to get published now than it was twenty-five years ago, literary magazines still provide the first foray into the literary world for many writers.”

--Virginia Aulin, editor of Celebration, volume 25:1 & 2

Artist's Statement: Indigo (blue) is a painting of a woman who is not old but is no longer young, she is not looking at us, but perhaps past us, she is not self-conscious nor is she parading her nakedness. I have been painting women (and men) naked and clothes for about twenty years and have exhibited in Canada, the US, Europe and Japan. I've taught painting at Concordia University, Ottawa University, the University of British Columbia and Emily Carr College. I currently reside in Vancouver with my son Sebastiaan.

Sally Cobau grew up in Springfield, Ohio. She went to Northwestern University and to the University of Montana, where she earned her M.F.A. in poetry in 1996. Since then, she has been a writer in residence in schools in Montana, Idaho and South Dakota. She has published poetry in LitRag and Voiceprint. Having lived in San Francisco for a year, she recently moved back to Montana, where she lives with her cats and boyfriend.

M.E. Csamer is a member of the League of Canadian Poets and was formerly on the board of the ArtBar reading series in Toronto. She has published widely in literary magazines. Her first book, Paper Moon, came out in 1998 from watershedBooks. She currently lives in Kingston, Ontario.

Helen Mourre farms and writes in Sovereign, Saskatchewan. She is the author of Landlocked, a short story collection published by Thistledown Press. Her fiction has appeared in various literary magazines and anthologies across Canada. She is hard at work on her second collection, entitled What's Come Over Her.

Lenora Steele’s first appearance in Room of One’s Own (Vol. 22:3) resulted in “The Cost of Calling Long Distance” being picked up by Harcourt Canada’s grade-eleven textbook Elements of English II. Other poems and postcard fiction have been or are soon to be published by Event, Nashwaak Review, Antigonish Review, Fiddlehead and the New Quarterly, among others.