Narrative Shifts

This first session introduces residents to the Seventh Wave’s signature workshop model, “The Mini Manifesto,” which centers the writer — and two very specific questions — as a way to discuss our relationships to the heart, spine, and architecture of our individual and collective work. This session deepens your relationship to your writing by speaking directly to the way you talk about your work. As a result, residents will gain new insight and inquiry that could be particularly helpful for book proposals, cover letters, submissions, and applications.

Resources and readings include work from and by The Creative Independent, Jackie Battenfield, Tin House, Wave Books, Joan Didion, and Claudia Tate, among others, as well as past contributors beloved, Eve Lederman, Gabrielle Bates, Christopher Kojzar, Megan Sykes, and Bianca Ng.

Every writer walks with, into, through, and/or away from a dizzying array of archives: emotional, historical, familial, and cultural. Here, we look at our deep storage — the experiences, behaviors, and patterns we inherit — while also interrogating accessibility: who gets to have an archive, and what happens when an archive is erased or taken from us? This session is meant to be foundational, offering glimpses into the wells we create from to help us reorient to the centers of our gravities, wounds, and healing.

Resources and readings include work from and by Jenny Sharpe, Kiese Laymon, Jordan Kisner, The Brooklyn Art Library, Bhanu Kapil, and Jenn Shapland, among others, as well as past contributors Paul S. Ukrainets, Saba Keramati, Shelby Handler, Lilian Mehrel, Christina Shideler, Jen Soong, and Yasmin Boakye./

How do we know when we’re ready to write about a particular experience? The notion of “permission” can play a key role in our approach to writing. Perhaps it is a tangible kind of permission — with or within the self, knowing what is your story to tell, even if it involves others — or it could also be a murkier kind of permission, especially if you’re dealing with narratives rooted in hard truths. In this session, we dive into the world of dreams, obsessions, and subtext in an effort to surface with a sense of permission to put shape to the stories we know we need to tell.

Resources and readings include work from and by Melissa Febos, Carl Phillips, Rachel Zucker, te Art Genome Project, and Kink: Stories, among others, as well as past contributors Lauren Friel, Natachi Mez, Elizabeth Rice, Jenny Molberg, Lisa Chen, Bobuq Sayed, and Issy Manley.

This session places residents inside the soft architecture of imagination, looking at the ways that creators across genres build, rebuild, and unbuild worlds. What is the relationship between world-building and wound-building? Are new worlds built around old wounds? Or just because of them? When and how do we build anew? This session looks at built worlds, real and imagined, to unlock the possibilities of our imagination.

Resources and readings include work from and by Sofia Samatar and Kate Zambreno, W. T. Pfefferle, Eric Molinsky, Ecotone, Rachel Edelman, and Cherie Dimaline, among others, as well as past contributors Farah Ghafoor, Callum Angus, Naomi Day, Jennifer Tan, Julia Tolo, Kristin Marie, and Lauren Mallett.

How — but also when and why — did you end up in the form that you’re in? Is the form you began a piece with the same form that the piece should end in? What can other forms teach you about the one you currently practice in? And what of hybrid work, the ever-growing field of genre-bending pieces? In this session, we’ll look at the “rules” of form and genre in an effort to bend or break them to the will of our own work. We’ll explore different kinds of creativity that can help loosen up our hold on specific forms.

Resources and readings include work from and by Renee Gladman, Jane Alison, Dorothy: A Publishing Project, Midst, Sabrina Orah Mark, and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, as well as past contributors April Yee, Ariana Benson, Brian Dang, Sarah Ghazal Ali, Nick Martino, Sarah Kaplan Gould, and Kofi Opam.

Writing isn’t the only form of writing; it can be an act of community. While there is solitude or a solitary aspect to the literal writing of words, the writing process doesn’t have to be a lonely one. During this session, we’ll talk about the importance of building community through our words, and share resources for how to plug into existing spaces or create our own. We’ll also share tips and tricks for writing routines and practices that can help you sustain your craft beyond what happens on the page. We will also zoom out and talk about what it means to be a writer in the world during times of political division, censorship, and strife.

Resources and readings include work from and by Matthew Salesses, Felicia Rose Chavez, Lewis Hyde, Unpublished, Maria Robinson, and the Artist Communities Alliance, and feature pieces from our Community Anthologies, our issue-based Resource Guides, and our Well-Crafted community bulletin, among others. 

There’s a reason why we call this program Narrative Shifts: because we believe that narratives do shift: within ourselves, between each other, and beyond our bodies. As an organization, we believe that honest dialogue has the potential to shift cultural paradigms, and we believe that this important work begins on the individual level: the narratives each of us write into the world help create the conversations we need to be a catalyst for change. And so it only feels fitting to end our time together with a celebratory reading featuring the work and words of our residents.

Resources and readings include work from and by Courtney Maum, The Authors Guild, Heavy Feather Review, University of Arizona Poetry Center, Joanna Penn, University of Chicago Press, Poets & Writers, and LitHub, among others. 

• March 17, Session 1: Centering Questions
• March 24, Session 2: The Role of Our Archives.
• March 31, Session 3: On Permission
• April 7, Session 4: To Build a World.
• April 14, Session 5: Form Matters.
• April 21, Session 6: Holding Spaces.
• April 28, Session 7: Narrative Shifts.
• TBD: Bonus Session with featured writer.

Wednesday Cohort Dates:
This cohort meets from 5-7 p.m. PST on Wednesdays between March 19 and April 30.

• March 19, Session 1: Centering Questions
• March 26, Session 2: The Role of Our Archives.
• April 2, Session 3: On Permission
• April 9, Session 4: To Build a World.
• April 16, Session 5: Form Matters.
• April 23, Session 6: Holding Space.
• April 30, Session 7: Narrative Shifts.
• TBD: Bonus Session with featured writer.

Saturday Cohort Dates:
This cohort meets from 8-10 a.m. PST on Saturdays between March 15 and April 26.

• March 15, Session 1: Centering Questions
• March 22, Session 2: The Role of Our Archives.
• March 29, Session 3: On Permission
• April 5, Session 4: To Build a World.
• April 12, Session 5: Form Matters.
• April 19, Session 6: Holding Space.
• April 26, Session 7: Narrative Shifts.
• TBD: Bonus Session with featured writer.

Applications are now open through Jan. 26 via our Submittable Page.

There is an application process for our digital residency to ensure that participation in our program is not just contingent upon one’s financial resources. For us, “community building” means building community in thoughtful and intentional, inclusive and accessible, equitable and transparent ways. All of our offerings — be it our annual literary magazine or Community Anthologies program — are designed to create safe spaces for those who participate, especially folks from marginalized communities. Given that this program is a cohort-based experience that brings together 12-16 writers and artists from all over the world, our application process ensures that residents are aligned with our ethos of collaboration.

What information is required to submit in your application?

• General information: This includes things like your name, email, time zone, the cohort/track you are applying for, and a confirmation that you agree to the community principles of this program.
• A statement of interest (in three fields): There will be three primary text fields for you to fill out: about you, your work, and your hopes for this program. This is your opportunity to tell us about you and your work, why you want to participate, and what you are hoping to achieve during the program. We want to get to know you as a human, as well as a writer. Whereas traditional submissions and applications require “formal bios” for writers, this application process seeks the informal: Where are you coming from, and where are you trying to go? Who are your mentors, near or far? Who are you writing for or with? These are the primary fields that our selection committee uses to evaluate applications.
• Sample work/portfolio: You will be required to submit some kind of sample work. This does not have to be a published piece. In fact, we encourage you to submit whatever you are working on these days. Because this program is not a workshop and does not include publication, we highly encourage you to submit something that you feel best illustrates your writing practice. This could be writing that you haven’t shown to anyone before or a previously published piece, so long as you feel that it showcases where you’re at and what you’re working on. We say this because we do not want to deter folks who haven’t been published before from applying, though we do want to get a sense for who is in the room so we can tweak our curriculum accordingly. Please submit no more than 10 pages of sample work.
• Scholarship Information: If you require some form of scholarship to participate in this program, you’ll be able to let us know if you require a fully-funded seat or a partially-funded seat. You may also provide context that may help us to understand your circumstances. To note: we do provide payment plans for any paying resident.

Modeled directly off our editorial residencies — which were grant-based opportunities we hosted during the pandemic in lieu of our in-person residencies — this process-based program is a seven-week, seven-session experience, helping writers at any stage of their careers to find an answer to the question: “What next?” The program includes:

• Seven sessions: 7 x 2-hour immersive and interactive sessions guided by TSW facilitators that explore craft, story, and narratives. You can see the session topics and descriptions above.
• One-on-Ones: we offer a 30-minute one-on-one at some point during the program with your facilitator. You may send a piece of writing in advance for you and your facilitator to talk about, or you may simply connect to talk all things writing, process, and the program.
• An optional feature on our Well-Crafted blog: while this is a process-based program that does not come with publication, we do provide residents with the option of featuring an excerpt of their work; writing a process piece; or doing a Q&A with Seventh Wave about their work. This is purely optional.
• An asynchronous gathering space: The Collective Journal is an asynchronous holding space for your cohort to exchange words, ideas, and questions.
• Bonus Session: the digital residency is capped off with a “bonus session,” which is a one-time talk with an author of your cohort’s choosing. The bonus sessions for the 2024 Summer Program were with Alexander Chee and Danielle Geller, and Melissa Febos and K-Ming Chang joined our bonus sessions for the 2024 Fall Program. We will invite the author your cohort chooses into a shared and intimate space, bringing your favorite writers within arms’ reach.
• Transfer Seats: Each resident has one transfer seat. If you can’t make one of your cohort’s sessions, you may join the other cohort’s session for that same topic. This helps residents who have a known scheduling conflict. If you need to miss multiple sessions, we will send you pre-recorded video prompts, enabling you to still go through the motions of the session asynchronously.
• Resource Packets: As mentioned earlier, we send out one Resource Packet per session. In total, our resource packets include 21 activities/prompts, and 75+ continued resources.
• Celebratory Reading: The seventh session is a celebratory reading foregrounding our residents’ work. This is an opportunity for residents to read from their work or share words about their work, which gives them experience with public speaking and performing.
• Future opportunities: Once you participate in any of our program, you are then eligible to apply for our in-person residencies, which take place throughout the year, and range from four days to two weeks.

• Cost. This program costs $895, which is roughly $125 per session, plus the final bonus session (technically an eighth session).
• Fully-Funded Seats. For each cohort, there will be two fully-funded scholarship seats. We do offer partial scholarship seats, but that depends on the number of requests and the size of our scholarship fund at the time. Payment plans are available.
• Confirming your spot with your deposit. Upon being selected, you will have 10 days to secure your spot by signing the contract and making your deposit (25% of your total fee), which will then go toward the total cost of the program. If you do not reserve your seat within 10 days, it will be awarded to the next in line.
• Finalists: We will be selecting five finalists per cohort. Finalists who do not end up getting off the waiting list and into the cohort they applied for will be given the opportunity to enroll in the subsequent cohort/intake without re-submitting an application.

A note on price: We conducted extensive research on pricing for a program like ours. We worked closely with our team and advisory board, surveying the industry to ensure that our program and pricing is equitable and accessible. We are also committed to appropriately paying our staff for the time and talent it takes to run this program, and so while we will always do what we can to make our programs available and accessible to the public, we are also committed to ensuring that our nonprofit appropriately values the work that goes into making this program possible to begin with.

While the curriculum is a seven-session program, each cohort/track will have what we call a “bonus session” that takes place after our seventh session. This capstone conversation brings an established writer into the room for an intimate conversation about creativity and craft, process and publishing. As the goal of this program is to expose folks to different kinds of writers and writing, this bonus session is meant to deepen and refine your approach to narratives and narrativizing.

• Past “Featured Writers” have included Melissa Febos, K-Ming Chang, Alexander Chee, Danielle Geller, Kaveh Akbar, Ruth Ozeki, Taylor Johnson, and Billy-Ray Belcourt, among others.
• In our first session together, residents will have the opportunity to suggest/nominate a writer they would like to be in conversation with during this bonus session.
• We will coordinate logistics for this bonus session. As this session depends upon the featured writer’s schedule, this session is not built into the core curriculum of the program, and is instead viewed as a bonus session. Digital Residents may attend their own bonus session, as well as the bonus session of the other cohort. Anyone who cannot attend this session will get a recording of the conversation and have a chance to submit questions in advance.