Mission

Dear inquisitive soul,

Welcome to The Chalice!

My name is Daniel, and I’ve been taking care of The Chalice for two years now. If you are intrigued by the world of dystopia, or seek to defy the norms we have accepted as universal morals in society, you have meandered into the right place.

Existence is crude. At The Chalice, we cast aside traditional laws of publishing standards and repudiate the conventional style that literary magazines adopt to appease the general public. Our unique aesthetic is born from the defiance of power; reminders of our mortality.

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As you peruse our website, which hosts the collection of all of our published issues, you will see that we deeply cherish the arts of prose, poetry, photography, and art, and the ways in which they are deeply telling about the state of oppression in which society binds us.

Some come to accept, conforming to the terms set by the codified truths of our society; some prostrate themselves to the hand of this invisible dictator, but others choose to rebel. Yet most, as applied to the general case, are oblivious to our tragic condition.

In The Chalice, we seek to bring light to our dystopia; we question ourselves and the aporia that disguises suppression as peace, hate with love, inertia as progress.

Whether or not you possess a deep conviction of the values laid plainly on this page, we urge you to take ownership of your language to communicate your true beliefs, beseeching to be heard.

Ideas should not be preached with the conviction of a hypocrite: in The Chalice, all ideas belong to the common place of exchange, interaction, dialogue, and awaiting skepticism.

This is our mission. Our consciousness.

This is why I continue to be the keeper of this flame. Every day I hold onto its embers for dear life… And if I don’t..? Some voice inside me says I’ll go insane.

What’s New

We are calling for submissions.

Issue X: Subverted Utopia

Translated from Greek, the word Utopia means “no place”.

The concept of a utopia has been invoked to allude to a world of perfect harmony… to depict Arcadia and ineffable beauty.

Yet, what lies underneath the facade of Utopia?

We all have something to hide; what ugly truth does the Utopia you envision conceal?

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We welcome art, photography, and prose submissions. See our Submit page for more details.

Check out our Instagram (@the._.chalice) for more timely updates.

← issues

The Opening Piece

It happened between seconds.

He was. Then wasn't.

That sedan never slowed. There was an impact, clean and merciless, but no drama. A mother shielded her child's eyes. Groceries spilled from the ruptured bags that he held. Milk bled into the asphalt like time unwinding.

White and infinite.

"It's over," hummed a voice.

"Why?" He asked.

"Why not?"

He clawed for something— anything, to anchor him. His mother's soft lullabies, cold, sweet mangoes in summer heat, the warm tremor of a lover's gaze. Fragile things. Woven things. Now torn.

"I had things to do. I'm not finished"

"No one ever is."

"Can I return?"

"No. Later was never promised."

A door materialized. Neither shining nor dull— just there. Light pulsed from it like a breath held far too long.

"Who are you?"

"Clotho," it said, its voice now a low echo. "The one who begins."

"But I just was."

"And now you're not."

He stepped forward, not out of courage, but inevitability.

As soon as he did, life lurched back into motion.

Tires sliced through the milk.

The sky remembered to rain.

Someone screamed as others filmed the aftermath.

Nothing paused. Nothing mourned.

Yet, something shifted. So slight, so silent, that the world itself blinked.

Once.

And then continued.

read the whole issue →

Submit

The Chalice has three modes of publication, with occasional special issues interrupting our standard publication cycle.

We accept submissions via Discord or via our email: thechalicewriting@gmail.com. Please leave your submission as either a document (Word or Google Docs) or as a PDF.

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1. Regular issues. Regular issues will always include a combination of prose and poetry, as well as feature a drawing or photograph as the front/back cover — only submissions that are relevant to the prompt will be considered for selection. Regular issues will be published at the end of every month. Each issue begins with prompt selection, which occurs throughout the first week of every month. Members are encouraged to share prompts that speak to them during the prompt development stage, and discuss the possibilities that arise from others. Prompts will vary often in degree of drama, provocation, interpretation, and limitation. Any submissions that are received after the date of publication will not be published, but may be chosen for publication in a special issue depending on the situation. If your artwork is not chosen for the cover, it will still be published on our website.

2. Photography issues. Photography issues will solely contain photographs. In the past, our photography issues have featured film, cyanotypes, and other forms of digital media. Photography issues have no specific prompt, but all photographs considered for publication must meet a qualitative artistic standard and also speak to the colors of dystopia.

3. Artwork submission. Art submissions will be posted on our website. We accept any artwork, given that it relates to either our current or past prompts. There is no distinct timeline for art submissions, however; submission within our regular issue timeline is required in order for your art to be selected for the front/back covers of our issues. If you are content with your art simply being displayed on our website, you may submit your artwork (in response to any prompt) at any given time.

4. Special issues. Special issues are rare and infrequent, but will feature experimental writing styles, interspersed with poetry, manifestos, and photography. Timelines TBD and are subject to sporadic change.

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Check our info doc for more general information.

Join

Ready to join the cause?

Check our Instagram (@the._.chalice) to see our most recent calls for submissions.

To be in the conversation with other like-minded artists and writers, join our Discord server.

Want to be a contributor? See Submit

Have any questions? Shoot us an email at: thechalicewriting@gmail.com

We try to answer within ~2 to 4 weeks.