The Seventh Wave has always been a sum of all its parts. We began as most ideas begin — unformed and in earnest — back in 2015, as a conversation between four creatives who wanted to figure out what it meant to be a writer or an artist in the world, and what it meant to engage with social issues within our own work in ways both explicit and not.Since then, we’ve grown into a community of more than 250 contributors spread across the globe, with a team of editors, artists, and facilitators helping to facilitate our multifaceted programs. We publish 24-32 new writers, artists, and activists each year through our magazine with a hands-on, collaborative editorial approach; offer three in-person residencies — ranging from four days to two weeks — on both coasts, open exclusively to our TSW alum; and host two digital residencies per year, open to writers and artists from around the world. We also have other ways for folks to get involved, including one-time talks, community anthologies, and the #TSWIRL Club. In this way, we seek to continue and deepen our relationships with contributors long past the point of publication; we want to create multiple opportunities for creative growth and be a home base for folks venturing out into the literary world.

We want to reimagine what a literary magazine or an arts nonprofit can look like, and dismantle the systems and hierarchies that still exist within something that should be as accessible and fluid as art.

We build community for and with individuals who come from historically underrepresented backgrounds and perspectives to dig deeper into the hard conversations that impact our lives, our environments, and our relationships to one another. As an organization that champions art in the space of social issues, we approach everything we do with radical intimacy: from creating calls to publishing pieces, engaging with the public on social media to hosting residencies and events. We believe that honest dialogue has the potential to shift cultural paradigms over time. As such, human exchange, inclusivity, and accessibility comprise our core ethos, and are foregrounded in every editorial act. We live, we breathe, and we beckon this work.