Literary Journal

Chainmail Poetry

Open now

Journals & literary magazines1 open opportunity listedCanada

About the magazine

Chainmail Poetry is an online literary project that emerged from the blogosphere in the early 2010s, rooted in the ethos of interconnectedness and digital resilience. Founded as a platform for poetry that explores the links between language, technology, and community, it takes its name from the medieval armor—each poem a small, interlocking ring that gains strength from its neighbors. The project has maintained a deliberately low-profile, non-institutional presence, prioritizing the circulation of work over archival permanence. Its core mission is to foster a decentralized network of poets who engage with themes of vulnerability, protection, and the fragile beauty of shared expression.

Editorial focus

Chainmail Poetry is a global community project based on the belief that all art is in conversation. The editors invite you to read the latest poem, identify a resonant line, and incorporate it into a poem of your own. The written word is human connection, and everyone is all connected through this chain.

Poetry

Submitting your work

Reading periodJan 1 to Dec 31

Reading feeNo

PaymentNo payment

Response timeLess than 3 months

Simultaneous submissionsNo

Unsolicited submissionsYes

Before submitting, read several recent posts to understand the aesthetic range, which tends toward the fragmentary, the digital-native, and the politically oblique. Submissions are typically accepted via email during reading periods announced on the blog; simultaneous submissions are discouraged. Send 3–5 poems in the body of the email, along with a brief third-person bio. Expect a response time of several weeks to a few months. The editors favor work that engages with the project's core metaphor—connection, armor, transmission—without being literal. No fees are charged, and no payment is offered; this is a labor of love.

Read official guidelines