The Torist was a literary journal first released in late 2015, published on the Tor anonymity network.[1][2] It features short stories, essays and poetry.[1] One of the reasons for publishing on Tor was to return to the idea of rummaging through antiquarian shops – "It gets back to the time when you had to find The Evergreen Review in the stacks at the vintage bookstore"[2] – and the zine can only be accessed through Tor, a dark web site.[3] Its founders are the pseudonymous G.M.H., named after the reclusive 19th-century poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Prof. Robert W. Gehl, who is a communication professor focusing on new media at the University of Utah.[2][4][5] The two met on the dark-net social network Galaxy, and started collaborating in 2014,[6] taking two years to produce the first issue of the journal.[4] Submissions are made through the anonymous and open-source GlobaLeaks platform — intended for whistleblowing.[2] The founders hope this anonymity can bolster creativity among submissions,[2] and wish to show that anonymity online isn't only for illicit activities.[citation needed]
Type of site | Literary review |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| URL | toristinkirir4xj.onion |
| Launched | 2015 |
Entries in the first issue were all named, including acclaimed poet Alissa Quart as well as other authors such as: Vance Osterhout, Linda Kronman, Andreas Zingerle, Nathanel Bassett, Peter Conlin, and JM Porup.[2][4]
The Torist is designed ... to throw a spanner in the works of various attempts to smear anonymity as being only desirable for evil people
— G.H.M. (founder), [1]
The entries have also gravitated towards issues concerning the modern internet, such as: prolific advertising, surveillance, censorship, and Edward Snowden.[1][4] As of 2016[update] entries are being accepted for the second edition of the magazine/journal, on a non-paid basis, but now allowing also anonymous entries.[1][7] All content in The Torist is published under a Creative Commons license.[5]
As of July 2021, The Torist is offline, due to the shutdown of Tor's Version 2 Onion Services and the fact that The Torist has never moved to Onion Services Version 3.[8] It is likely that The Torist was taken offline before that date.
References edit
- ^ a b c d e Smith, Nathan (5 April 2016). "The Literary Magazine of the Dark Web". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
- ^ a b c d e f Locke, Charley. "The Dark Web Has Its Own Lit Magazine". WIRED. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
- ^ "The Torist: a literary journal on the darknet". Boing Boing. 2016-01-25. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
- ^ a b c d "The Torist: How to read a secret magazine on the darknet". The Indian Express. 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
- ^ a b "What Kind of Literature Lives on the Dark Web?". Literary Hub. 2016-02-03. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
- ^ "The Dark Web Now Has a Literary Journal". Motherboard. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
- ^ "The Torist: a literary journal on the darknet". Boing Boing. 2016-01-25. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
- ^ "V2 Onion Services Deprecation". Tor Project Support. 2020-09-01. Retrieved 2021-10-14.