I walk quietly to Birdy’s room and softly seat myself on a rocking chair. It’s late, the sun has already set. A small bedside lamp casts off a soft golden glow. Her bed is lowered to the floor. Feather stuffed duvets…
Creative Nonfiction
The Keeping Room is an online magazine for all women writers, poets, and artists.
We are looking to publish your short stories, essays, free writing, poetry, and photo essays that touch on topics related to Women’s Wisdom, Lessons Learned, Self-care, Bodies, Relationships, and Community.
Writers selected for publication will be paid $25
The Interloper by Kandi Maxwell
“You should meet, Jonnie,” my friend, Glenda says. “You two have so much in common.” We both hike, camp, and love animals. He has horses, I have wolf dogs. He lives in a cabin he built himself. I live in a renovated barn.
Fight Like a Girl by Justine Payton
CW: sexual violence
The man who settled himself between my legs was twice my size. I immediately felt suffocated beneath the pressure of his weight …
The Shattered Six-Year-Old Speaks and I Ask her to Return by Gabrielle Ariella Kaplan-Mayer
The shattered six-year-old
There Are Giants in the Sky by Natalie Chih-lu Hung
One chilly February evening, my 4-year-old and I sit on his bed, our eyes locked in a playful stand-off. He has just requested Goldilocks and the Three Bears as his bedtime story for the 21st time in a row …
Her Longing & His Loneliness by L Grace G
Our marriage counselor asked, “So, what happened that night?”
DOGGED by Marty Kingsbury
In my 71 years of life, I’ve known lots of pain: scrapes and stitches and broken bones. Pinched sciatica…
Jesus Is Delicious by Monica J. Casper
I was small when my mom and my sister, and I left a drafty old house in coal country for Chicago. We had tickets to Bozo’s Circus, which we’d only ever seen on TV…
Lipstick by Norma Schafer
The tube is gold and metallic blue, scratched, tarnished, and well-worn. The removable gold top has ridges with the raised edges now silvery, signs of its aging.
Dinner for Two Lovely People by Tracy Harris
You can tell when a binge is about to happen. Just as the sky darkens and the air grows thick with moisture before a thunderstorm, a binge starts with warning signs.
Glimpses by Anne E. Beall
A few months ago, I looked up and realized you were walking along the sidewalk in front of me. You walked as if you weren’t sure of yourself—not convinced you had a solid place on this earth…