Behind the Scenes – Seventh Wave https://www.theseventhwave.org Art in the space of social issues Thu, 23 May 2024 18:28:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.theseventhwave.org/wp-content/uploads/cropped-favicon-32x32.png Behind the Scenes – Seventh Wave https://www.theseventhwave.org 32 32 TSW staff picks: what we’re reading, watching, and listening to right now https://www.theseventhwave.org/bulletin-staff-picks-june-2023/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bulletin-staff-picks-june-2023 Sun, 18 Jun 2023 15:00:31 +0000 https://theseventhwave.org/?p=11135

We asked our TSW staff about the stories they're currently experiencing or revisiting.

READS

  • Yellowface by R.F. Kuang | from Sanna Wani, TSW artist-in-residence
    “Yellowface was just a mindfuck. A novel written by its villain, this book felt like living in the eye of the storm and watching the violence from a third-party perspective. It is knowing the thing and then looking through someone else’s eyes at it: and the thing is the entrenched racism and white supremacy of the publishing world. A lot of interesting commentary too on stories and who writes them and why. A repulsive story that you can’t look away from; a car crash where you’re strapped into the passenger seat. Kuang really knows how to blast off and then drive a story (and its characters) to rock bottom in the best way.”
  • The Hare by Melanie Finn | from Emilie Menzel, TSW senior poetry editor
    “Finn’s novel follows a young women’s lifelong navigation of the ramifications of an abusive relationship. The first half of this book especially is some of the smartest, most sensorially immersive, well-crafted writing I have ever encountered. I’m reminded of Sarah Moss’s Ghostwall, another excellent novel teetering on fabulism. Finn’s slow deployment of narrative mixed with interiority quickly entwined me with the fuzzy logic of the abuser, the abused, and the woods in which much of the story ensues. A beautiful examination of how we define autonomy and decision, and both of those within a complicated experience of femininity.”
  • Just Kids by Patti Smith | from Joyce Chen, TSW executive director
    “This was one of those books that has sat on my shelf for many, many years, but I grabbed it on a whim while heading out of town for a writing residency, and it proved to be exactly the book I needed to read during that time period. The memoir follows Patti and her lover, muse, and friend, the late artist Robert Mapplethorpe, in their early years in New York City. There’s something so inspiring and tender about learning more about these two creative icons living that period of pre-success and pre-fame; it caused me to reflect upon my own creative journey and all that’s had to happen to get to here, and how much more I want to learn and accomplish in this lifetime.”
  • Souvenirs from Paradise by Erin Langner | from Meg Sykes, TSW art director
    “I recently finished — and highly recommend — Souvenirs from Paradise, the gorgeous debut collection of lyric essays by Seattle author Erin Langner. Erin took more than twenty trips to the Strip over a period of around ten years to write this collection, in which she uses familiar tropes — themed architecture, a bachelorette party, an impersonator show — to confront the grief she experienced around her mother’s death when she was nine. It’s a deeply moving meditation on family and loss, as seen through the lens of contemporary art and kitch in Las Vegas. Definitely unlike anything else I’ve read; I loved it.”
  • Falling Back in Love with Being Human by Kai Cheng Thom | from Sarah Neilson, TSW facilitator and assistant editor
    “I have to read a lot of books for my job, which is great but has its challenges. This tiny book of love letters to humanity, to the monstrous within and the monstrous without, is one of the most healing things I’ve read in a long time. Thom is a poet at heart (even though she’s written in many genres), and started this project to help heal herself from the ways in which humanity’s behavior has broken her heart over and over, as it has all of us. In that sense it reminds me a little of Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights, but this is a different book from that. Just as necessary.”
  • The Portable Dorothy Parker from Avi-Yona Israel, TSW director of advocacy
    “I’m rereading The Portable Dorothy Parker. I got a tattoo of the last stanza of ‘Star Light, Star Bright’ at some point in my twenties: ‘Swing you low or high away,/Burn you hot or dim;/My only wish I dare not say-/Lest you should grant me him.’ I’ll always be a confused and lovesick teenager at heart, even if I’m a happy wife in reality, and the first time I read those lines, they blew my hair back. My enemy is closest, as it is my tell-tale heart. Everyone should read this book, if only to remember that therapeutic writing should be shared with others; profundity often goes over the head of a fellow sufferer, one desperate for answers more than questions.” 
  • A Summoning by Nicole McCarthy | from Bretty Rawson, TSW director of programs
    “How do you write a story that lives in the absence of words? How do we make sense of things that never made sense to begin with, of things that always sought to end your sense of the world? At last, this is a body of work that will always be breathing. That will always be finding itself anew, each day, giving its readers the endless shelter of possible shadows. Hybrid work by definition is hard to define, but how else are we supposed to map the ever-scorched memories of our traumas? This debut work is an honest unswallowing, a soft examination of undefinable experiences. Through imagery and erasure, prose that twists, and the lens of necessary discards, this work is unforgettably healing. It is an instruction manual as much as it is a holding pattern: a gentle guide regardless of where you’re at with your own difficult pasts and paths. A flashlight of stars, these prose poems will hover in the dark space of experience, shedding new light into the spaces we wish to occupy. For anyone grappling with the sting of narratives, this is a healing book of becoming.”  

 

WATCHES

  • Selling Sunset | from Sanna Wani, TSW artist-in-residence
    “As a staunch lover of reality TV, I think what Selling Sunset offers is heaps and heaps and heaps of gossip. As much as there are 45 million problems with the celebrity capitalist luxury ethic of the show, I love and go back for the interpersonal, messy conflict and conversation. Seeing how the people, dynamics and relationships shift and change. Oh, and the ridiculous fashion and houses are, aesthetically and anthropologically, just fascinating.”
  • Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, dir. by Alejandro González Iñárritu | from Joyce Chen, TSW executive director
    “This is not a film so much as it is an experience. Bardo is the tale of a Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker living in America who returns home to accept a prestigious award, only to be caught in an existential crisis over what it means to live between two worlds, two cultures, two lives. I watched this on the eve of returning home for my aunt’s funeral service, and it seeped its way into my subconscious in a really powerful way. It is one of the best depictions I’ve seen of the immigrant experience, digging unapologetically into the complex layers of guilt, drive, and loss that come with trying to ‘make it’ in a place that can never fully be home.”
  • Doctor Who | from Avi-Yona, TSW director of advocacy
    “I’ve recently renewed my obsession with David Tennant, so I’ve been rewatching the Tenth Doctor seasons of Doctor Who and calling my mother-in-law to wax poetic about tall men and time travel. I have an ex who looks very similar to Tennant, and there’s something very interesting to me, a consummate navel gazer, about the idea of fixed points in time that you can’t go back to without changing everything else. And the idea of being too afraid to love someone because one day they’ll die and you’ll be left alone — don’t get me started. I mean, the concept of regeneration alone could be a whole philosophy class. It’s important to have deep, desperate conversations about things we’re scared of, even if we’ll never need to face them.”
  • WNBA 2023 season | from Sarah Neilson, TSW facilitator and assistant editor
    “Ok, so it’s not really a show, but you *can* watch it on TV. Last year, my partner and I started going to Seattle Storm games and I became a superfan after a single game. I’m not a big sportsball person, but this league is chock full of amazing athletes who are so exciting to watch, and they have the most out queer players of any professional sports league (which is something I read on Autostraddle and don’t need to question because it seems obvious to me). The energy of basketball is kinetic. It’s pretty easy to follow and it’s fast-paced, and I will die on the hill of women’s sports being a lot more fun to watch than men’s sports. I’m biased, but I’m not sorry.”
  • American Born Chinese | from Joyce Chen, TSW executive director
    “It really does feel like the beginning of a deluge of stories on screens both big and small that focus on the Asian American experience (the key differentiation here is that the Asian Americans are the main characters now, versus previous mainstream works that included ‘foreign’ Asian characters as foils for their white American counterparts). Seeing this sort of representation and storytelling onscreen feels equal parts bizarre and beautiful, and I’d love to think of this series as a way for audiences to better understand the nuances of the Asian American experience, told in an authentic, charming manner that doesn’t bow to the white gaze.”
  • FROM | from Elizabeth Upshur, TSW poetry editor
    “It’s a mystery horror show starring Harold Perrineau as protector of this creepy town with mysterious creatures that come out at night. Think a sort of Lost or Wayward Pines. I’m usually more of a creature feature horror fan but the tension is incredible and I’m so curious to know more about this town and these characters! I’m loving it— even if I need to wash it down with a comedy episode of Living Single afterwards.”
  • Joyland | by Sanna Wani, TSW artist-in-residence
    Joyland is harder to describe. I have not yet decided if I like this film but I know it moved me. Repressed desire, feeling trapped, complicated family. All of this and more result in a beautifully shot, intensely accurate arthouse film that leaves me feeling as angry as I am touched, as betrayed as I am mournful and as heartbroken as I am grateful to have seen it. Not for the light of heart and trigger warnings for depictions of suicide, sexual assault and coercion.”
  • Class of ’07 | from Elizabeth Upshur, TSW poetry editor
    “A dark comedy that follows the titular all girls class of ’07 when their boarding school reunion experiences a tsunami. Can they put aside their old wounds, tensions, and long buried grudges in order to survive? It’s a fantastic look at female friendships. I’ve already watched it twice and sent a love letter to one of the creators on Twitter (cuz thats what we should be using social media platforms for!). Felt very relevant in editing Hannah Schoettmer’s recent poem ‘Hallway Song’ and if you liked Yellowjackets or Derry Girls I think you’ll enjoy it.”

LISTENS

  • God, Human, Animal, Machine by Meghan O’Gieblyn | from Emilie Menzel, TSW senior poetry editor
    “Following Ezra Klein’s insistence, I just finished listening to this both richly personal and meticulously researched examination of parallels between metaphors in religion and technology. O’Gieblyn considers how regularly used metaphors can slip into habit, then morph into an unconscious lens through which we relate to both the religious and technological worlds. In all the discussions of AI, I’ve been most intrigued by the conversations around how our characterization of AI as human-like in turn characterizes what it means to be human. O’Gieblyn digs into this discussion in a way that has me questioning (or feeling validated in my questioning) the zealous and reverent ideology that is guiding the development of technologies and guiding how we integrate technology into our lives.”
  • Maintenance Phase | from Sarah Neilson, TSW facilitator and assistant editor
    “In case for some reason you aren’t aware of this brilliant podcast, which means we haven’t met because I talk about it all the time, you’re in for a treat with its catalogue. Brilliant writer Aubrey Gordon and brilliant journalist Michael Hobbes co-host. They debunk health, “wellness,” diet, and nutrition trends, fads, messaging, etc. They are very thorough and very funny with their wonderful rapport. The things I learn through this podcast have already gone a long way to rewiring my brain to notice and push back against my own and others’ anti-fat bias, assumptions about health, moralizing of people’s bodies based on those things, and also how to be a better human and more discerning consumer of information. I also just can’t get enough of listening to these two talk, or of Aubrey’s laugh.”
  • Last Podcast on the Left | from Avi-Yona, TSW director of advocacy
    “My favorite podcast right now is Last Podcast on the Left. Again, I’m going back to someplace I’ve been. I’m bipolar, so there are periods in my life that consist only of a manic blur, one in which Spotify says I watched all of them already, though I have no memory of such an accomplishment. It’s three men screaming low-brow profanities and discussing weird alien abductions, serial killers, spontaneous combustion, you name it. About a decade ago, when I lived in Philly, I would listen to this when I took the bus home from work. I associate the anti-dulcet tones of Henry Zebrowski with being done: done with work, done with bullshit, done with The Man, done with logical answers and sane thought. This recommendation is for those searching for a little chaos in the everyday.”
Welcome!

New to Seventh Wave? Learn about our new website, check out our org’s timeline and team, read our latest issue or past issues, visit our community bulletin, see what our staff are reading these days, and learn about our residenciesanthologies, and how to support us.

Upcoming

 

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From the Vault
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Seven tips on submitting your work to TSW https://www.theseventhwave.org/bulletin-seven-submit-tips/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bulletin-seven-submit-tips Thu, 15 Jun 2023 15:00:20 +0000 https://theseventhwave.org/?p=11141

We hosted a Zoom info session earlier this month sharing seven tips on submitting your strongest work to The Seventh Wave. Below is the list of things that our selection committee looks for in the work that you submit to us for publication:

  • We look for work with “connective tissue.” For this first tip, we shared what our Senior Prose Editor Briana Gwin said she looks for when reading submissions: “I’m interested in work that functions as connective tissue: between genres, between languages, between organisms, between the micro and the macro, between the individual and the collective; I’m interested in exploring the ways we can step outside of ourselves even while interrogating our own interiorities; I’m interested in telling the same story a hundred different ways; I’m interested in beginning with the fifth paragraph; I’m interested in work that tugs at the heart and sways the mind.” This is one editor’s take on the type of work that interests us, but “connective tissue” is certainly something that our entire team is searching for: work that is connective, and work that is collective.
  • We look for work that comes from the lives experience. During an interview between our Executive Director Joyce Chen and author Jacqueline Woodson, an audience member asked Jaqueline how she creates characters who resonated so deeply with the audience member, despite the fact that the character came from a different background than that audience member. Jacqueline’s response, which she paraphrased from Black women writers who have come before her, was: “In the specificity is the universal.” We feel this is the most succinct way to describe the type of work we’re looking for: work that tugs at the fabric of culture through the personal; work that could only come from you and your experience living in the world today.
  • We look for voice-driven work that unpacks language. This is a mouthful, which is part of our point: we are looking for work that unpacks itself, interrogating the words we use and why we use them. We want work that could only have been written by you, because your voice on the page is that distinct. This is to say that we’re interested in work that really digs into the naming and unnaming of things, as well as the unnameable things.  
  • We welcome rough drafts, but not careless writing. This is one of the most important items to be aware of for a few reasons. One, we are seeking writers who are looking to work with editors, as we pair you with two editors who will guide you through an intimate editorial process from selection to publication. (If you’re wondering how rough a draft can be, think of it this way: we want you to have done enough work on your draft that you know where you want to take it, though you might need help getting there.) Second, we say “not careless writing,” because the shape you send your draft in tells us how much time you’ve spent with your own work, so please try to send us work that has been proofread. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but there is a difference between work that is a bit messy and work that is, well, a mess. 
  • We look for work that takes us somewhere new or somewhere newly. Our calls for submissions are about social issues, which means they are often topics that have been written about time and again. Politics, dangerous bodies, rebellious joy, who gets to belong: we are adding to these historical conversations with each issue. As such, we’re looking for work that either takes us somewhere new, or work that takes us somewhere familiar in a new way. Oftentimes, this lies in the voice of the piece, as well as the perspective. Meaning, in you. You are often the nuance we’re looking for.
  • We look for work that utilizes form to empower content. When we shared this on Zoom, we may have said, “Shoutout to the poets in the room.” We often get a lot of poetry that breaks the rules, which is the kind of work we like, but writers that break the rules need to be aware of what this new form is doing and why. We are looking for work, be it prose, poetry, or somewhere in between, that is searching in its form. We want work that crosses boundaries and borders, that blurs the line between lines that need to be blurred. We want you to take risks. We want to give you the permission you need to empower your work, whether or not it utilizes or breaks traditional forms. 
  • We look for work that plants questions in the readers’ minds. We love work that reimagines the worlds we live in, showing us the way in which worlds can heal (or how they fall apart). We’re looking for work that builds worlds, but we’re not looking for work that tries to solve the world’s problems. In poetry, this can look like “tying a bow” on the end of a poem, and in prose, this can look like “throat clearing.” In both instances, the writer is getting in their own way. Our editors are here to help show you where this might exist in your work, but we also feel this is often helpful to hear: we’re less interested in the answers you give, and more interested in the questions your work poses. It can sometimes be helpful to think of the questions you’re asking as seeds your planting in a reader’s mind.

We hope you find some of this helpful, either for submitting to us or to another magazine. If you have any questions about these items, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at submit@seventhwavemag.com.

Welcome!

New to Seventh Wave? Learn about our new website, check out our org’s timeline and team, read our latest issue or past issues, visit our community bulletin, see what our staff are reading these days, and learn about our residenciesanthologies, and how to support us.

Upcoming

 

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From the Vault
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How TSW curates our calls for submissions https://www.theseventhwave.org/bulletin-curating-our-calls/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bulletin-curating-our-calls Wed, 14 Jun 2023 15:00:51 +0000 https://theseventhwave.org/?p=11137

Hint: It’s a pretty involved process that takes several months and many brains

Each issue we publish is a labor of love that begins long before we launch it out into the world. In fact, we consider every issue to officially kick off when we create a new Google doc in anticipation of the months-long process we undertake to create our call for submissions, which we call our “Featured Brains” program.

Three-and-a-half months before a call for submissions opens up, we reach out to several contributors from the previous issue to gauge their interest in partaking in what we called the “Featured Brains” process. Altogether, we look to gather anywhere between four to seven contributors to help us shape the call; on average, there are usually three TSW team members who get in on the mix as well. Then, we give them the lay of the land: we create the call via three different Google docs, each a different phase of the process that gets us closer to the three-paragraph prompt that folks will eventually respond to. And in this way, we create an important bond between contributors from different issues — a subtle conversation, a shared heartbeat. 

Phase 1: The Brainstorm begins.

For the first phase, which we call “Brainstorm,” we ask each contributor or team member to offer up a brain dump of what they’re thinking about, what questions they’re asking, what subjects they’re curious to know more about, what types of things they’re having conversations with their besties about. It is, essentially, a free-for-all. The point of the brainstorm is to get a comprehensive snapshot of what folks are interested in at this particular moment in time; our calls are meant to be both timely and timeless, and this is how we address the former.

Phase 2: The Braincalm.

After everyone has shared their thoughts — which can often lead to a dynamic, multi-page Google doc — we move into the second phase, which we call “Braincalm.” Here, one of the TSW team members will take a look at what folks have dropped into the Google doc and start to identify themes or threads. Then, they create a new Google doc that rearranges everyone’s thoughts based on topic, pulling key phrases or sentiments from each contributor and team member’s brain dump. The featured brains then dive into this second Google doc and respond to what speaks to them, either adding to the conversation in a long comment thread or simply upvoting a particular turn of phrase.

Phase 3: The Mindblown.

Based on this activity, we move into the third and final phase, which we call “Mindblown,” or more colloquially, the first draft of the call. It falls upon that same TSW team member who created the “Braincalm” Google doc to parse through the conversations and upvotes to create a rough sketch of the call, a three-paragraph prompt that pulls from the questions and curiosities found in the previous two phases. Usually, a framework for the call becomes clear after the “Braincalm” phase, but sometimes there are multiple possibilities, so the TSW team member has to think about what framing will keep the call as accessible to folks as possible, as open to interpretation as a call can be. The point is to ask questions that will spark ideas or reactions and encourage writers and artists from a wide range of backgrounds, viewpoints, and disciplines to submit.

Phase 4: The issue takes a form of its own.

Then comes the bonus phase, which is simply finessing the call itself. The contributors and team members hop into the newly created “Mindblown” Google doc once the call draft is written and offer up suggestions to make it stronger — a word choice here, a different phrasing there. In all, this three-phase process takes about three months, but at the end of it all, we’ve collectively created a call that will hopefully reach multiple communities and spark dialogue that will last long past the duration of the issue itself. Timely and timeless is the name of the game, after all. Oftentimes, once we finish a call, we highlight all the sections that were a direct result of one of our Featured Brains’ sentiments during this process to show just how collective the call is. Below, you can see one such example:

Take a moment to explore some of our past calls for submissions and see for yourself; many of the questions posed even seven or eight years ago are still very relevant today.

Welcome!

New to Seventh Wave? Learn about our new website, check out our org’s timeline and team, read our latest issue or past issues, visit our community bulletin, see what our staff are reading these days, and learn about our residenciesanthologies, and how to support us.

Upcoming

 

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From the Vault
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A timeline of TSW’s beginnings and becomings https://www.theseventhwave.org/tsw-timeline/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tsw-timeline Tue, 13 Jun 2023 15:00:40 +0000 https://theseventhwave.org/?p=11145

At The Seventh Wave, intentionality and accessibility are at the heart of everything we do. Ever since we began in 2015, we’ve endeavored to be as inclusive as possible in our offerings, staying nimble to respond to the ever-changing literary landscape. As a BIPOC- and queer-led organization, we are committed to meeting folks wherever they might be in their creative journeys, and we’ve continued to evolve in order to find a sound and sustainable way to do so. To give you an idea of where we began and how we’ve grown, here is a little timeline of our organization’s history:

2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023

At The Seventh Wave, intentionality and accessibility are at the heart of everything we do. Ever since we began in 2015, we’ve endeavored to be as inclusive as possible in our offerings, staying nimble to respond to the ever-changing literary landscape. As a BIPOC- and queer-led organization, we are committed to meeting folks wherever they might be in their creative journey, and we made these decisions because we are committed to creating community in the digital space and knew we needed to find a sound and sustainable way to do so. To give you an idea of where we began and how we evolved over the past seven years, here is a little timeline of our shared history:

  • November 2014, we began as an idea: four friends from The New School met for coffees, and began dreaming about the possibility of a digital publication dedicated to real-life conversations.  
  • February 2015, The Challenge Grant: shortly after thinking of the name, The Seventh Wave, we came across The New School’s Challenge Grant — a $10K to new ideas from grad students — and applied with seconds to spare. We applied with only a logo and an idea, and we not only won the public vote contest — amassing 2,500 supporters in two weeks without publishing a single piece — we were also finalists for the grant. Though we didn’t win the monetary support, we felt buoyed by our community. This gave us the inspiration to see our magazine into being.
  • March – October 2015, Incubation: we spent the first half of the year becoming a non-profit organization, creating an initial strategic plan, crafting our first call for submissions for Issue 1, which became “Perception Gaps, and continuing to build community by hosting intimate roundtable gatherings, rooftop gatherings, and spaces for artists, writers, and activists to engage and exchange with each other.
  • November 2015, First Issue + Launch Event: We published Issue 1: Perception Gaps with a traditional launch event at 61 Local (which has since closed), giving our contributors the stage to read from their work. Over 120 folks gathered on the second floor of this Brooklyn bar to welcome TSW into being. You can see an album of pictures here taken by Dania Bdeir.
  • 2016, the year of three issues: we hit the ground running in 2016, publishing 3 issues — Issue 2: Labels, Issue 3: Who Gets to Belong, and Issue 4: You Are Politics — and hosting events for each one. One of our favorite events was for Issue 2: Labels, where we hosted a spoken word performance at The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, putting our contributors onstage alongside other local NYC-based writers and performers. We published half of Issue 4: You Are Politics before the November 2016 US Election and half after, knowing that this election would alter the direction of histories. The result of the election reminded us of the power of narratives and importance of publishing voices from marginalized communities. 
  • July 2016, First Rhinebeck Residency: in early 2016, we were offered the opportunity to host a staff retreat at The Crystal Cottage in Rhinebeck, NY by our now-Board President Tatiana Serafin. Learning that the property is set on 27 acres and accommodates 8, we asked Tatiana if we could instead host a writing residency, bringing 4 writers and artists to join our 4 staff for 4 days of quiet collaboration. She says yes, and this becomes our first in-person residency. At this time, the residency brought 4 of our issue contributors together, allowing us to work with 25% of the people we would be publishing in the upcoming issue. 
  • Winter 2016, shifting toward a residency-based magazine model: with the introduction of our Rhinebeck Residency, we began ideating on ways to bring our online conversations and issues to life by offering in-person programs and opportunities for writers and artists. From 2016 – 2018, we hosted our Rhinebeck Residency annually, bringing 4 writers/artists from those issues together.  
  • July 2017, introduced Birches LitFest + annual fundraising campaigns: the following year, 
  • 2018, the year in which we went bicoastal: at the end of 2017, two of our cofounders moved to Seattle, WA. As they began setting down roots on the west coast, TSW naturally started to became a bicoastal organization, which solidified when local author Steph Jagger offered her property to us to host a Rhinebeck Residency equivalent in the Pacific Northwest. In 2018, we partnered with local organizations like Open Books: A Poem Emporium, The Collective Seattle, Hugo House, The Seattle Public Library, and Elliott Bay Bookstore.   
  • January 2019, received our first grant: TSW received its first grant from ArtsWA — the Washington State Arts Commission — to launch its first-ever Bainbridge Residency at The Bloedel Bunkhouse. This grant provided funds for the operational costs of the program, allowing us to now have a resideny on both coasts: Rhinebeck Residency in upstate New York and Bainbridge Residency, a ferry-ride away from Seattle, WA.
  • February 2019, held our 1st Bainbridge Residency: by adding our Bainbridge Residency, we now had two residencies per year: Bainbridge in winter and Rhinebeck in summer. At the same time, we decided upon a cadence of two digital issues per year, each of which was tethered to one of our residencies, which meant that we were able to work with 25% of the people we published. 
  • February 2020, TSW brings on 10 new staff: after settling into what felt like a concrete editorial and operational model, with 2 issues and 2 residencies per year, we spent 1 year planning on scaling TSW. In February 2020, we brought on 10 new stipend-based staff members, adding roles like Events Director, Arts Director, Director of Advocacy, Interviews Editor, and more, but this new energy was short-lived, as the pandemic put the entire world on pause.
  • March 2020, pandemic hits: when the pandemic hit, we knew there was no going back. We had to pause our newly-developed bicoastal residency program. Knowing that the pandemic could last years, we built a virtual residency, which we called our “Editorial Residency,” as a placeholder. This was a five-month, $500-grant opportunity for 4 writers and artists. From 2020 o 2022, we hosted 4 cohorts of this program, providing grants to 16 writers and artists during the pandemic.
  • 2020, the year of never-ending change: as a digital magazine, change was something we were used to. We felt prepared: we paused our in-person residencies and created a virtual one within a month of the pandemic first hitting; we launched a 40-week reading series, Seven at Seven, that featured 40 writers during the first stretch of the pandemic; we launched a Mind Capsule Project, which followed 40 individuals (our quaranta, as we called them) throughout the first 10 weeks of the pandemic, and even published our first print anthology, We Keep Beginning, which was an anthology on process, showcasing 28 of our contributors from 10 issues and 5 years of publishing.  
  • July 2020, TSW receives Literary Art Emergency Fund: we were thrilled to be one of the national literary magazines to receive emergency funding by CLMP, as 2020 was the year we first went into the red, as our fundraising model was disrupted (we used to bring in 75% of our funding through an in-person gala and silent auction).
  • August 2020, TSW publishes first anthology: we printed our first anthology, We Keep Beginning: an anthology on process, designed by Bianca Ng, our 2020-2022 Artist-in-Residence. We created TSW’s first online store for this anthology, selling tote bags, artist series postcards, and more. The anthology showcased 28 past TSW contributors across 10 issues and 5 years of publishing.
  • July 2021, TSW named Finalist for CLMP Firecraker Award: TSW was honored to be a Finalist for the annual CLMP Firecracker Awards for General Excellence: Magazine. We were among some of our favorite outlets that year, and were being recognized for the two issues we published in 2020: Issue 12: Actionable Storytelling and Issue 13: Rebellious Joy.
  • Winter 2021 – Spring 2022, introduced first cohort of One Time Talks: we launched a new digital series, our One Time Intimate Talks, which have since rebranded to One Time Talks, which bring readers within arms’ reach of their favorite writers. Our first cohort in Winter 2021 – Spring 2022 included Melissa Febos, Donika Kelly, Ruth Ozeki, Kaveh Akbar, Destiny O. Birdsong, Jane Wong, Callum Angus, Elsa Sjunneson, and Kristen Millares Young. This first run of the program was a part of our community fundraiser in 2022, but this program is being reintroduced in 2023 as a standing program, which allows us to make it more consistent and accessible to our community. See One-Time Talks for more info.
  • July 2022, resumed and reimagined in-person residencies: with in-person events and programs feeling more possible, we reintroduced our Rhinebeck Residency in July 2022, but not without reimagining it: we turned this 4-day residency into a 2-week residency, opening it up to past TSW contributors only, giving folks the time, space, and place to work on longer-length manuscripts and work. You’ll see more below on the other changes that went into this shift in programming, but you can also read more about our in-person residency programs here.
  • August – December 2022, TSW presses pause for first time on publication: in the pandemic, we saw some of our favorite outlets shuttering. It was, and still is, a difficult time for art nonprofits and digital magazines. We are no different: in 2022, we reached our own breaking points, and for the first time since 2015, we paused publication to regroup with our staff and brainstorm on a more sustainable business model for our arts organization. While we were receiving annual grants to help TSW survive, we were barely breaking even, and the pace at which we were publishing was not sustainable. We spent six months ideating on changes to TSW that would allow us to function more holistically. 
  • January 2023, TSW begins rolling out new model: beginning in 2023, we have three clear channels to our business operations: our annual literary magazine, our residency programs (in-person and digital), and our community platforms (community anthologies, Well-Crafted, #TSWIRL and more). Some of our programs fund people (our magazine pays our contributors), some of our programs cost money to partake (our Digital Residency program costs money to attend), and some of our platforms are subscription-based (#TSWIRL, which launches in 2024). We have created these programs and offerings as equitably as possible, keeping in mind the value of arts on both sides of the publishing process. 
  • March 2023, TSW hosts key events for AWP: with AWP coming to Seattle in March 2023, it was a moment for us to host events in our now hometown. We were thrilled to partner with CAM and The Sorrento Hotel to bring two signature events to life, both of which brought together 50+ people for evenings of art and conversation.
  • May 2023, TSW partners with Seattle City of Lit: we hosted a second Bainbridge Residency this year in May 2023 (we usually only host one in February of every year), as it was a special partnership with the Seattle City of Literature that brought an international writer, Claudia Klingenschmid, to Seattle and our 4-day writing residency. 
  • June 2023, TSW launches new website: a year in the making, TSW launches its new digital home, showcasing its magazine, digital programs, and platforms in unparalleled ways. We are indebted to Meg Sykes, our Art Director, for building us this website after 7 years of publishing. This website, which is our center for storytelling, has enabled us to create new programs that will help elevate twice as many writers and artists per year.
  • June 2023, TSW launches Community Anthologies program: we are thrilled to introduce this new, cohort-based storytelling program, which gives 4 Editors-in-Chief the editorial keys to TSW. Working alongside each other in a cohort, these EICs will be curating their own mini-issues, showcasing the work of 7 individuals. Get to know our 2023 EICs and more about this program here
  • June 2023, TSW launches Well-Crafted column: for the first time, TSW now has a community column, called Well-Crafted, our behind-the-scenes bulletin, where we share all things craft and curation, events and announcements. Keep an eye on this space, as it will share our secrets and insights to applying for residencies, announce opportunities for submissions, and much more.
  • Fall 2023 and beyond, TSW continues to grow: we are excited to sink into this new era and model of publishing, and can’t wait to see our anthologies, Well-Crafted column, Digital Residency, and #TSWIRL Club can do for the literary and arts communities near and far. Sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on all things TSW.

We look forward to seeing where we go, and grow, together.

Welcome!

New to Seventh Wave? Learn about our new website, check out our org’s timeline and team, read our latest issue or past issues, visit our community bulletin, see what our staff are reading these days, and learn about our residenciesanthologies, and how to support us.

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