Programs

Digital Residencies

Our digital residency, Narrative Shifts, is a generative incubator for artists and writers from around the world to create alongside each other. Whereas our magazine and our community anthologies are for the writer who is ready to publish a piece, our digital residency is for the writer who is looking to deepen their relationship to their work. Through the program, residents can expect resources, accountability, and plenty of inspiration. This process-based program is a seven-week, seven-session experience, helping writers at any stage of their careers find an answer to the question: “What next?”

About

We built this program for creative writers, students of story, and those who work in and/or with narratives.

This program brings together writers of all kinds to exchange ideas, questions, and curiosities. Our past residents have included individuals who are curious about applying to MFA programs, but who cannot or have not due to life circumstances; people who consider themselves to be newer to writing; folks who have been writing for years or decades, but who are now seeking a community to write alongside; or artists who don’t consider themselves writers by trade, but who are interested in learning more about the craft.

The seven-week sessions are intentionally genre-agnostic, so you’ll get a chance to experiment with various genres and forms, and to see what that might unlock for your practice. We encourage questions and conversation; building community with like-minded creatives is a central part of the digital residency experience. Many of our residents have gone on to create co-writing or accountability groups together after the fact, or found other ways to continue exchanging resources and encouragement in the weeks and months afterward. If you’re looking for that creative spark in your writing life, consider applying for an upcoming cohort.

Specific Residencies

Our digital residencies invite writers, artists, and activists from all genres and perspectives to bolster their art through community.

Narrative Shifts

Narrative Shifts is a genre-agnostic writing program that includes seven sessions over seven weeks, centering specific aspects of craft that any writer, reader, or thinker could wield both on and off the page.

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FAQ

No question is too small; below are a few questions we often get asked about our digital residencies.

Who is eligible to apply for a digital residency?

The digital residency is meant for the writer or artist who is interested in process rather than publication.  It doesn’t matter where you are in your arc as a writer (or artist) today — whether you are newly dipping your toe into poetry or have several short story collections under your belt — so long as you are curious to expand upon your literary tool kit, and to be an active participant throughout the program. As this is a digital residency, we also highly encourage folks from outside the US to apply.

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What does it cost to attend the digital residency?

Narrative Shifts costs $895 per resident, which is roughly $125 per session, plus the final bonus session, which is technically an eighth session. For each cohort, there will be two fully-funded scholarship seats. We also offer partial scholarship seats, but this depends upon the number of requests and the size of our scholarship fund at that time. Payment plans are available.

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Are there readings or other requirements involved outside of the weekly sessions?

Before each session, we provide a generative prompt that we ask all residents to do. This ensures you are committing (at least) twice weekly to your creative practice. Outside of this generative prompt, your only obligation during the program is to show up for yourself and for others. There will be recommended resources in each resource packet for you to explore during and after the program. Regardless of how long you’ve been a “writer” or “writing,” this program will help you carve out your own creative path to embolden the work you want to be doing in the world.

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What else is included as part of the digital residency experience?

In addition to the weekly two-hour sessions, the digital residency also includes a one-on-one session with your facilitator, during which time you could chat about a specific piece or project, or just creative processes at large; an asynchronous gathering space where you and your fellow residents can exchange resources and ideas; an optional feature on you and your creative practice through our Spotlights column; and a bonus session, where we bring in an established author of the cohort’s choosing for a casual conversation and craft talk. Anyone who goes through our digital residency program is also then eligible to apply for an in-person residency in the future.

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Spotlights

We shine lights on our contributors’ and residents’ writing practices.

When it comes to creativity, we know that so much of the labor, inspiration, and process behind a piece can be invisibilized. Our Spotlights help remedy that by making the act of writing more approachable. Each Spotlight offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into one maker’s process.

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Programs

We’re creating welcoming and nurturing spaces for our community to flourish.

Our in-person residencies are structured to nourish your entire creative being.

In-Person Residencies

We make literary spaces more accessible via one-time talks that encourage conversation across disciplines and identities.

One-Time Talks

“There is a different feeling to being published as part of a cohort, all writing toward the same theme.

“Whatever that feeling is — community, care, solidarity, grace — Seventh Wave, in its gestures, is holding this space, a space where our words can not only sit side by side but as part of a shared vision.”

— David Naimon, 2023 “On Rivers” Community Anthology contributor

Our contributors